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TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES 



BARON HUMBOLDT. 




OLIVER & BOYD, EDINBURGH. 



THE 

TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES 

OF 

ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT : 

BEING A CONDENSED 

NARRATIVE OF HIS JOURNEYS 

IN THE 

EQUINOCTIAL REGIONS OF AMERICA, 

AND IN 

ASIATIC RUSSIA; 

TOGETHER WITH 

ANALYSES OF HIS MORE IMPORTANT 
INVESTIGATIONS. 



BY W. MACGILLIVRAY, A. M., 

Conservator of the Museums of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Member of 
the Natural History Societies of Edinburgh and Philadelphia, &c. 



WITH A PORTRAIT OF HUMBOLDT BY HORSBURGH, A MAP OF THE ORINOCO 
BY BRUCE, AND FIVE ENGRAVINGS BY JACKSON. 



SECOND EDITION. 




EDINBURGH: 

OLIVER & BOYD, TWEEDDALE COURT ; 

AND SIMPKIN & MARSHALL, LONDON. 
MDCCCXXXIII. 



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Printed by Oliver* Boyd, 
,, v eedda ! ,e r, c:ur,, y H igh Street, E d,n b ur gh . 



PREFACE. 



The celebrity which Baron Humboldt enjoys, and 
which he has earned by a life of laborious investiga- 
tion and perilous enterprise., renders his name fami- 
liar to every person whose attention has been drawn 
to political statistics or natural philosophy. In the 
estimation of the learned no author of the present 
day occupies a higher place among those who have 
enlarged the boundaries of human knowledge. To 
every one accordingly whose aim is the general culti- 
vation of the mental faculties, his works are recom- 
mended by the splendid pictures of scenery which 
they contain, the diversified information which they 
afford respecting objects of universal interest, and 
the graceful attractions with which he has succeed- 
ed in investing the majesty of science. 

These considerations have induced the Publishers 
to offer a condensed account of his Travels and Re- 
searches, such as, without excluding subjects even 
of laboured investigation, might yet chiefly embrace 
those which are best suited to the purposes of the 
general reader. The public taste has of late years 
gradually inclined towards objects of useful know- 
ledge, — works of imagination have in a great mea- 



6 PREFACE. 

sure given place to those occupied with descriptions 
of nature, physical or moral, — and the phenomena 
of the material world now afford entertainment to 
many who in former times would have sought for it 
at a different source. Romantic incidents, perilous 
adventures, the struggles of conflicting armies, and 
vivid delineations of national manners and indivi- 
dual character, naturally excite a lively interest in 
every bosom, whatever may be the age or sex ; but, 
surely, the great facts of creative power and wis- 
dom, as exhibited in regions of the globe of which 
they have no personal knowledge, are not less cal- 
culated to fix the attention of all reflecting minds. 
The magnificent vegetation of the tropical regions, 
displaying forests of gigantic trees, interspersed with 
the varied foliage of innumerable shrubs, and adorn- 
ed with festoons of climbing and odoriferous plants : 
the elevated table-lands of the Andes, crowned by 
volcanic cones, whose summits shoot high into the 
region of perennial snow; the earthquakes that have 
desolated populous and fertile countries; the vast 
expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, with its circling cur- 
rents; and the varied aspect of the heavens in those 
distant lands, — are subjects suited to the taste of 
every individual who is capable of contemplating 
the wonderful machinery of the universe. 

It is unnecessary here to present an analysis of 
the labours of the illustrious philosopher whose foot- 
steps are traced in this volume. Suffice it to observe, 
that some notices respecting his early life introduce 



PREFACE. i 

the reader to an acquaintance with his character and 
motives, as the adventurous traveller, who, cross- 
ing the Atlantic, traversed the ridges and plains of 
Venezuela, ascended the Orinoco to its junction with 
the Amazon, sailed down the former river to the 
capital of Guiana, and after examining the Island 
of Cuba mounted by the valley of the Magdalena 
to the elevated platforms of the Andes, explored the 
majestic solitudes of the great cordilleras of Quito, 
navigated the margin of the Pacific Ocean, and wan- 
dered over the extensive and interesting provinces 
of New Spain, whence he made his way back by 
the United States to Europe. The publication of 
the important results of this journey was not com- 
pleted when he undertook another to Asiatic Russia 
and the confines of China, from which he has but 
lately returned. 

From the various works which he has given to the 
world have been derived the chief materials of this 
narrative ; and, when additional particulars were 
wanted, application was made to M. de Humboldt 
himself, who kindly pointed out the sources whence 
the desired information might be obtained. The 
life of a man of letters, he justly observed, ought 
to be sought for in his books ; and for this reason 
little has been said respecting his occupations during 
the intervals of repose which have succeeded his pe- 
rilous journeys. 

It is only necessary further to apprize the reader, 
that the several measurements, the indications of the 



8 PREFACE. 

thermometer, and the value of articles of industry 
or commerce, which in the original volumes are ex- 
pressed according to French, Spanish, and Russian 
usage, have been reduced to English equivalents. 

Finally, the Publishers, confident that this abridg- 
ed account of the travels of Humboldt will prove 
beneficial in diffusing a knowledge of the researches 
of that eminent naturalist, and in leading to the 
study of those phenomena which present themselves 
daily to the eye, send it forth with a hope that its 
reception will be as favourable and extensive as that 
bestowed upon its predecessors. 

Edinburgh, October 1832. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION". 
Birth and Education of Humboldt— His early Occupations — He re- 
solves to visit Africa — Is disappointed in his Views, and goes to 
Madrid, where he is introduced to the King* and obtains Per- 
mission to visit the Spanish Colonies — Observations made on the 
Journey through Spain — Geological Constitution of the Country 
between Madrid and Corunna — Climate — Ancient Submersion of 
the Shores of the Mediterranean — Reception at Corunna, and 
Preparations for the Voyage to South America, Pag 6 1 7 

CHAPTER II. 

VOYAGE FROM CORUNNA TO TENERIFFE. 
Departure from Corunna — Currents of the Atlantic Ocean — Ma- 
rine Animals — Falling Stars — Swallows — Canary Islands — Lan- 
cerota— Fucus vitifolius — Causes of the Green Colour of Plants 
— La Graciosa — Stratified Basalt alternating with Marl — Hya- 
lite — Quartz Sand — Remarks on the Distance at which Moun- 
tains are visible at Sea, and the Causes by which it is modified 

Landing at TenerhTe, 2o 

CHAPTER III. 

ISLAND OF TENERIFFE. 
Santa Cruz — Villa de la Laguna — Guanches — Present Inhabitants 
of TenerhTe — Climate — Scenery of the f^a^t Orotava Dragon- 
tree— Ascent of the Peak— Its Geological Character — Eruption- 
—Zones of Vegetation — Fires of St John, 41 



10 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

PASSAGE FROM TENERIFFE TO CUMANA. 

Departure from Santa Cruz — Floating 1 Seaweeds — Flying-fish — 
Stars — Malignant Fever — Island of Tobago — Death of a Pas- 
senger — Island of Coche — Port of Cumana — Observations made 
during the Voyage ; Temperature of the Air ; Temperature of 
the Sea ; Hygrometrical State of the Air ; Colour of the Sky and 
Ocean, Page 55 

CHAPTER V. 

CUMANA. 

Landing at Cumana — Introduction to the Governor — State of the 
Sick — Description of the Country and City of Cumana — Mode of 
Bathing in the Manzanares — Port of Cumana — Earthquakes ; 
Their Periodicity ; Connexion with the State of the Atmosphere ; 
Gaseous Emanations ; Subterranean Noises ; Propagation of 
Shocks ; Connexion between those of Cumana and the West In- 
dies; and General Phenomena, (>8 

CHAPTER YI. 

RESIDENCE AT CTJMANA. 

Lunar Halo — African Slaves — Excursion to the Peninsula of Araya 
— Geological Constitution of the Country — Salt-works of Araya 
— Indians and Mulattoes — Pearl-fishery — Maniquarez — Mexi- 
can Deer — Spring of Naphtha, 77 

CHAPTER VII. 

MISSIONS OF THE CHAYMAS. 

Excursion to the Missions of the Chayma Indians — Remarks on 
Cultivation — The Impossible — Aspect of the Vegetation — San 



CONTENTS. ] 1 

Fernando — Account of a Man who suckled a Child — Cumanacoa 
— Cultivation of Tobacco — Igneous Exhalations— Jaguars — 
Mountain of Cocollar — Turimiquiri — Missions of San Antonio 
and Guanaguana, Page 80 



CHAPTER VIII. 

EXCURSION CONTINUED, AND RETURN TO CUMANA. 

Convent of Caripe — Cave of Guacharo, inhabited by Nocturnal 
Birds- — Purgatory — Forest Scenery — Howling Monkeys — Vera 
Cruz — Cariaco — Intermittent Fevers — Cocoa-trees — Passage 
across the Gulf of Cariaco to Cumana, 99 



CHAPTER IX. 

INDIANS OF NEW ANDALUSIA 

Physical Constitution and Manners of the Chaymas — Their Lan- 
guages — American Races, « Ill 



CHAPTER X. 

RESIDENCE AT CUMANA. 

Residence at Cumana — Attack of a Zambo — Eclipse of the Sun — 
Extraordinary Atmospherical Phenomena — Shocks of an Earth- 
quake — Luminous Meteors, 121 

CHAPTER XI. 

VOYAGE FROM CUMANA TO GUAYRA. 

Passage from Cumana to La Gua}Ta — Phosphorescence of the Sea 

Group of the Caraccas and Chimanas — Port of New Barcelona 

La Guayra — Yellow Fever — Coast and Cape Blanco — Road from 
LaGuavra to Caraccas, 128 



12 CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XII. 

CITY OF CARACCAS AND SURROUNDING DISTRICT. 
City of Caraccas — General View of Venezuela — Population Cli- 
mate — Character of the Inhabitants of Caraccas — Ascent of the 
Silk — Geological Nature of the District and the Mines, Page 143 

CHAPTER XIII. 

EARTHQUAKES OF CARACCAS. 
Extensive Connexion of Earthquakes — Eruption of the Volcano of 
St Vincent's— Earthquake of the 26th March 1812— Destruc 
tii ^i of the City — Ten Thousand of the Inhabitants killed — Con- 
sternation of the Survivors — Extent of the Commotions, 157 

CHAPTER XIV. 

JOURNEY FROM CARACCAS TO THE LAKE OF VALENCIA. 
Departure from Caraccas — La Buenavista — Valleys of San Pedro 
and the Tuy — Manterola — Zamang-tree — Valleys of Aragua— 
Lake of Valencia — Diminution of its Waters — Hot Springs — 
Jaguar — New Valencia — Thermal Waters of La Trinchera — 
Porto Cabello — Cow-tree — Cocoa-plantations — General View of 
the Littoral District of Venezuela, 166 

CHAPTER XV. 

JOURNEY ACROSS THE LLANOS, FROM ARAGUA TO SAN 
FERNANDO. 

Mountains between the Valleys of Aragua and the Llanos — Their 
Geological Constitution — The Llanos of Caraccas — Route over 
the Savannah to the Rio Apure — Cattle and Deer — Vegetation 
— Calabozo — Gymnoti or Electric Eels — Indian Girl — Alligators 
and Boas — Arrival at San Fernando de Apure, 186 



CONTENTS. 13 

CHAPTER XVI. 

VOYAGE DOWN THE RIO APURE. 
San Fernando — Commencement of the Rainy Season — Progress of 
Atmospherical Phenomena — Cetaceous Animals — Voyage down 
the Rio Apure — Vegetation and Wild Animals —Crocodiles, 
Chiguires, and Jaguars — Don Ignacio and Donna Isabella — 
Water-fowl — Nocturnal Howlings in the Forest — Caribe-fish — 
Adventure with a Jaguar — Manatees — Mouth of the Rio 
Apure, Page 202 

CHAPTER XVII. 

VOYAGE UP THE ORINOCO. 
Ascent of the Orinoco — Port of Encaramada — Traditions of a Uni- 
versal Deluge — Gathering of Turtles' Eggs — Two Species de- ■ 
scribed — Mode of collecting the Eggs and of manufacturing the 
Oil —Probable Number of these Animals on the Orinoco — Decora- 
tions of the Indians — Encampment of Pararuma — Height of the 
Inundations of the Orinoco — Rapids of Tabage, 219 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

VOYAGE UP THE ORINOCO CONTINUED. 

Mission of Atures — Epidemic Fevers — Black Crust of Granitic 
Rocks — Causes of Depopulation of the Missions — Falls of Apures 
— Scenery — Anecdote of a Jaguar — Domestic Animals — Wild 

Man of the Woods — Mosquitoes and other poisonous Insects 

Mission and Cataracts of Maypures — Scenery — Inhabitants — 
Spice-trees — San Fernando de Atabipo — San Baltasar — The 
Mother's Rock — Vegetation — Dolphins — San Antonio de Javi- 
ta — Indians — Elastic Gum — Serpents — Portage of the Pimichin 
— Arrival at the Rio Negro, a Branch of the Amazon — Ascent 
of the Casiquiare, 239 



14 CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

ROUTE FROM ESMERALDA TO ANGOSTURA. 

Mission of Esmeralda — Curare Poison — Indians — Duida Moun- 
tain — Descent of the Orinoco — Cave of Ataruipe— Raudalito of 
Carucari — Mission of Uruana — Character of the Otomacs — 
Clay eaten by the Natives — Arrival at Angostura — The Travel- 
lers attacked by Fever — Ferocity of the Crocodiles,.... Page 2J2 



CHAPTER XX. 

JOURNEY ACROSS THE LLANOS TO NEW BARCELONA. 

Departure from Angostura — Village of Cari — Natives — New Bar- 
celona — Hot Springs— Crocodiles — Passage to Cumana, 288 



CHAPTER XXI. 

PASSAGE TO HAVANNAH, AND RESIDENCE IN CUBA. 

Passage from New Barcelona to Havannah — Description of the 
latter — Extent of Cuba — Geological Constitution — Vegetation — 
Climate — Population — Agriculture — E xports — Preparations for 
joining Captain Baudin's Expedition — Journey to Batabano, and 
Voyage to Trinidad de Cuba, 298 



CHAPTER XXII. 

VOYAGE FROM CUBA TO CARTHAGENA. 

Passage from Trinidad of Cuba to Carthagena — Description of the 
latter — Village of Turbaco — Air-volcanoes — Preparations for 
ascending the Rio Magdalena, 309 

7 



CONTENTS. 15 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE JOURNEY FROM CARTHAGENA 
TO QUITO AND MEXICO. 

Ascent of the Rio Magdalena— Santa Fe de Bogota — Cataract of 
Tequendama — Natural Bridges of Icononzo — Passage of Quin- 
diu — Cargueros — Popayan — Quito — Cotopaxi and Chimborazo — 
Route from Quito to Lima — Guayaquil — Mexico — Guanaxuato — 
Volcano of Jorullo— Pyramid of Cholula, Page 323 



CHAPTER, XXIV. 

DESCRIPTION OF NEW SPAIN OR MEXICO. 
General Description of New Spain or Mexico — Cordilleras — Cli- 
mates — Mines — Rivers — Lakes — Soil — Volcanoes — Harbours — 
Population — Provinces — Valley of Mexico, and Description of 
the Capital — Inundations, and Works undertaken for the Purpose 
of preventing them, 343 



CHAPTER XXV. 

STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF NEW SPAIN CONTINUED. 

Agriculture of Mexico — Banana, Manioc, and Maize — Cereal 
Plants — Nutritive Roots and Vegetables — Agave Americana — 
Colonial Commodities — Cattle and Animal Productions, 37 J 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

MINES OF NEW SPAIN. 

Mining Districts — Metalliferous Veins and Beds — Geological Re- 
lations of the Ores — Produce of the Mines — Recapitulation.. .3ii0 



16 CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

PASSAGE FROM VERA CRUZ TO CUBA AND PHILADELPHIA, 
AND VOYAGE TO EUROPE. 

Departure from Mexico — Passage to Havannah and Philadelphia — 
Return to Europe — Results of the Journeys in America, Page 401 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

JOURNEY TO ASIA. 
Brief Account of Humboldt's Journey to Asia, with a Sketch of the 
Four great Chains of Mountains which intersect the Central Part 
of that Continent, .....407 



ENGRAVINGS. 



Portrait of Baron F. H. A. Humboldt,— To face the 

Vignette* 
Vignette — Basaltic Rocks and Cascade of Regla. 

Dragon-tree of Orotava, .....Page 48 

Humboldt's Route on the Orinoco. 129 

Jaguar, or American Tiger, 212 

Air-volcanoes of Turbaco, 318 

Costumes of the Indians of Mechoacan, 341 



THE 

TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES 

OF 

BARON HUMBOLDT. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introduction. 



irth and Education of Humboldt — His early Occupations — He re- 
solves to visit Africa — Is disappointed in his Views, and goes to 
Madrid, where he is introduced to the King, and obtains Per- 
mission to visit the Spanish Colonies — Observations made on the 
Journey through Spain — Geological Constitution of the Country 
between Madrid and Corunna — Climate — Ancient Submersion of 
the Shores of the Mediterranean — Reception at Corunna, and 
Preparations for the Voyage to South America. 

With the name of Humboldt we associate all that 
interesting in the physical sciences. No traveller 
ho has visited remote regions of the globe, for the 
lrpose of observing the varied phenomena of na- 
ire, has added so much to our stock of positive 
aowleclge. While the navigator has explored the 
•asts of unknown lands, discovered islands and 
o. lores, marked the depths of the sea, estimated the 
force of currents, and noted the more obvious traits 
hi the aspect of the countries at which he has touch- 
ed ; while the zoologist has investigated the multi- 



18 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

plied forms of animal life, the botanist the diversi- 
fied vegetation, the geologist the structure and rela- 
tions of the rocky masses of which the exterior of 
the earth is composed ; and while each has thus con- 
tributed to the illustration of the wonderful con. 
stitution of our planet, the distinguished traveller 
whose discoveries form the subject of this volume 
stands alone as uniting in himself a knowledge o 
all these sciences. Geography, meteorology, mag. 
netism, the distribution of heat, the various depart 
ments of natural history, together with the affinities 
of races and languages, the history of nations, th 
political constitution of countries, statistics, com 
merce, and agriculture, — all have received accumi: 
lated and valuable additions from the exercise of h 
rare talents The narrative of no traveller there- 
fore could be more interesting to the man of varie 
information. But as from a work like that of whic 
the present volume constitutes a part subjects stric 
ly scientific must be excluded, unless when the 
can be treated in a manner intelligible to the pul 
lie at large, it may here be stated, that many of tl 
investigations of which we present the results, mu 
be traced in the voluminous works which the auth 
himself has published. At the same time enough w 
be given to gratify the scientific reader ; and whi 
the narrative of personal adventure, the diversifi 
phenomena of the physical world, the condition 
societies, and the numerous other subjects discus 
ed, will afford amusement and instruction, let it 
remembered that truths faithfully extracted fro 
the book of nature are alone calculated to enlarge t 
sphere of mental vision ; and that, while fancif 
description is more apt to mislead than to dire 



BIRTH A 

the footsteps of the student, there is reflected from 
the actual examination of the material universe a 
light which never fails to conduct the mind at once 
to sure knowledge and to pious sentiment. 

Frederick Henry Alexander Von Humboldt was 
born at Berlin on the 14th of September 1769. He 
received his academic education at Gottingen and 
Frankfort on the Oder. In 1 790 he visited Holland 
and England in company with Messrs George For- 
ster and Van Geuns, and in the same year published 
his first work, entitled u Observations on the Basalts 
of the Rhine." In 1 791 he went to Freyberg to re- 
ceive the instructions of the celebrated Werner, the 
founder of geological science. The results of some 
of his observations in the mines of that district were 
published in 1793, under the title of Specimen Fierce 
Fribergensis Subterranece. 

Having been appointed assessor of the Council of 
Mines at Berlin in 1792, and afterwards director- 
general of the mines of the principalities of Baireuth 
and Anspach in Franconia, he directed his efforts to 
the formation of public establishments in these dis- 
tricts ; but in 1795 he resigned his office with the 
view of travelling, and visited part of Italy. His 
active and comprehensive mind engaged in the study 
of all the physical sciences ; but the discoveries of 
Galvani seem at this period to have more particularly 
attracted his attention. The results of his experi- 
ments on animal electricity were published in 1796, 
with notes by Professor Blumenbach. In 1795 he 
had gone to Vienna, where he remained some time, 
ardently engaged in the study of a fine collection of 
exotic plants in that city. He travelled through se- 
veral cantons of Salzburg and Styria with t' 






brated Von Buch, but was prevented by the war 
which then raged in Italy from extending his journey 
to that country, whither he was anxious to proceed 
for the purpose of examining the volcanic districts 
of Naples and Sicily. Accompanied by his brother 
William Von Humboldt and Mr Fischer, he then 
visited Paris, where he formed an acquaintance with 
M. Aime Bonpland, a pupil of the School of Medi- 
cine and Garden of Plants, who, afterwards becom- 
ing his associate in travel, has greatly distinguished 
himself by his numerous discoveries in botany. 

Humboldt, from his earliest youth, had cherish- 
ed an ardent desire to travel into distant regions 
little known to Europeans, and, having at the age 
of eighteen resolved to visit the New Continent, 
he prepared himself by examining some of the most 
interesting parts of Europe, that he might be enabled 
to compare the geological structure of these two por- 
tions of the globe, and acquire a practical acquaintance 
with the instruments best adapted for aiding him in 
his observations. Fortunate in possessing ample pe- 
cuniary resources, he did not experience the priva- 
tions which have disconcerted the plans and retarded 
the progress of many eminent individuals ; but, not 
the less subject to unforeseen vicissitudes, he had to 
undergo several disappointments that thwarted the 
schemes which, like all men of ardent mind, he had 
indulged himself in forming. Meeting with a per- 
son passionately fond of the fine arts, and anxious 
to visit Upper Egypt, he resolved to accompany him 
to that interesting count ry ; but political events in- 
terfered and forced him to abandon the project. The 
knowledge of the monuments of the more ancient 
nations of the Old World, which he acquired at 



JOURNEY TO SPAIN. 21 

this period,, was subsequently of great use to him 
in his researches in the New Continent. An ex- 
pedition of discovery to the southern hemisphere, 
under the direction of Captain Baudin, then pre- 
paring in France, and with which MM. Michaux 
and Bonpland were to be associated as naturalists, 
held out to him the hope of gratifying his desire of 
exploring unknown regions. But the war which 
broke out in Germany and Italy compelled the go- 
vernment to withdraw the funds allotted to this 
enterprise. Becoming acquainted with a Swedish 
consul who happened to pass through Paris, with 
the view of embarking at Marseilles on a mission 
to Algiers, he resolved to embrace the opportunity 
thus offered of visiting Africa, in order to examine 
the lofty chain of mountains in the empire of Moroc- 
co, and ultimately to join the body of scientific men 
attached to the French army in Egypt. Accom- 
panied by his friend Bonpland, he therefore betook 
himself to Marseilles, where he waited for two 
months the arrival of the frigate which was to con- 
vey the consul to his destination. At length, learn- 
ing that this vessel had been injured by a storm, he 
resolved to pass the winter in Spain, in hopes of 
finding another the following spring. 

On his way to Madrid, he determined the geo- 
graphical position of several important parts, and 
ascertained the height of the central plain of Castile. 
In March 1799 he was presented at the court of 
Aranjuez, and graciously received by the king, to 
whom he explained the motives which induced him 
to undertake a voyage to the New Continent. Be- 
ing seconded in his application by the representations 
of an enlightened minister, Don Mariano Luis de 



22 GEOLOGY AND CLIMATE OF SPAIN. 

Urquijo, he to his great joy obtained leave to visit 
and explore, without impediment or restriction, all 
the Spanish territories in America. The impatience 
of the travellers to take advantage of the permission 
thus granted did not allow them to bestow much 
time upon preparations ; and about the middle of 
May they left Madrid, crossed part of Old Castile, 
Leon, and Galicia, and betook themselves to Co- 
runna, whence they were to sail for the island of 
Cuba. 

According to the observations made by our travel- 
lers, the interior of Spain consists of an elevated table- 
land, formed of secondary deposites, — sandstone, 
gypsum, rock-salt, and Jura limestone. The climate 
of the Castiles is much colder than that of Toulon 
and Genoa, its mean temperature scarcely rising to 
59° of Fahrenheit's thermometer. The central plain 
is surrounded by a low and narrow belt, in several 
parts of which the fan-palm, the date, the sugar-cane, 
the banana, and many plants common to Spain and 
the north of Africa vegetate, without suffering from 
the severity of the winter. In the space included 
between the parallels of thirty-six and forty degrees 
of north latitude the mean temperature ranges from 
62*6° to 68*2° Fahrenheit, and by a concurrence of 
favourable circumstances this section has become the 
principal seat of industry and intellectual cultivation. 

Ascending from the shores of the Mediterranean, 
towards the elevated plains of La Mancha and the 
Castiles, one imagines that he sees far inland, in the 
extended precipices, the ancient coast of the Penin- 
sula ; a circumstance which brings to mind the tradi- 
tions of the Samothracians and certain historical testi- 
monies, according to which the bursting of the waters 



ARRIVAL AT CORUNNA. 23 

through the Dardanelles, while it enlarged the ba- 
sin of the Mediterranean, overwhelmed the southern 
part of Europe. The high central plain just de- 
scribed would, it may be presumed, resist the ef- 
fects of the inundation until the escape of the waters 
by the strait formed between the Pillars of Hercules 
had gradually lowered the level of the Mediterra- 
nean, and thereby once more laid bare Upper Egypt 
on the one hand, and on the other, the fertile val- 
leys of Tarragon, Valentia, and Murcia. 

From Astorga to Corunna the mountains gra- 
dually rise, the secondary strata disappear by de- 
grees, and the transition rocks which succeed an- 
nounce the proximity of primitive formations. Large 
mountains of graywacke and gr ay wacke- slate pre- 
sent themselves. In the vicinity of the latter town 
are granitic summits which extend to Cape Orte- 
gal, and which might seem, with those of Brittany 
and Cornwall, to have once formed a chain of 
mountains that has been broken up and submersed. 
This rock is characterized by large and beautiful 
crystals of felspar, and contains tin-ore, which is 
worked with much labour and little profit by the 
Galicians. 

On arriving at Corunna, they found the port 
blockaded by the English, for the purpose of inter- 
rupting the communication between the mother- 
country and the American colonies. The principal 
secretary of state had recommended them to Don 
Rafael Clavigo, recently appointed director-general 
of the maritime posts, who neglected nothing that 
could render their residence agreeable, and advis- 
ed them to embark on board the corvette Pizarro 
bound for Havannah and Mexico. Instructions were 



24 TEMPERATURE OF THE SEA. 

given for the safe disposal of the instruments, and 
the captain was ordered to stop at Teneriffe so long 
as should be found necessary to enable the travellers 
to visit the port of Orotava and ascend the Peak. 

During the few days of their detention, they oc- 
cupied themselves in preparing the plants which 
they had collected, and in making sundry observa- 
tions. Crossing to Ferrol they made some inter- 
esting experiments on the temperature of the sea 
and the decrease of heat in the successive strata of 
the water. The thermometer on the bank and near 
it was from 54° to 55-9°, while in deep water it 
stood at 59° or 59*5°, the air being 55°. The fact 
that the proximity of a sand-bank is indicated by a 
rapid descent of the temperature of the sea at its 
surface, is of great importance for the safety of na- 
vigators ; for, although the use of the thermometer 
ought not to supersede that of the lead, variations of 
temperature indicative of danger maybe perceived by 
it long before the vessel reaches the shoal. A heavy 
swell from the north-west rendered it impossible to 
continue their experiments. It was produced by a 
storm at sea, and obliged the English vessels to re- 
tire from the coast, — a circumstance which induced 
our travellers speedily to embark their instruments 
and baggage, although they were prevented from 
sailing by a high westerly wind that continued for 
several days. 



DEPARTURE FROM CORUNNA. 25 



CHAPTER, II. 

Voyage from Corunna to Teneriffe. 

Departure from Corunna — Currents of the Atlantic Ocean — Ma- 
rine Animals — Falling- Stars — Swallows — Canary Islands — Lan- 
cerota — Fucus vitifolius — Causes of the Green Colour of Plants 
—La Graciosa — Stratified Basalt alternating- with Marl — Hya- 
lite — Quartz Sand — Remarks on the Distance at which Mountains 
are visible at Sea, and the Causes by which it is modified — Land- 
ing at Teneriffe. 

The wind having come round to the north-east, 
the Pizarro set sail on the afternoon of the 5th of 
June 1799, and after working out of the narrow 
passage passed the Tower of Hercules, or light- 
house of Corunna, at half-past six. Towards even- 
ing the wind increased, and the sea ran high. They 
directed their course to the north-west, for the pur- 
pose of avoiding the English frigates which were 
cruising off the coast, and about nine spied the fire 
of a fishing-hut at Lisarga, which was the last ob- 
ject they beheld in the west of Europe. As they 
advanced, the light mingled itself with the stars 
which rose on the horizon. " Our eyes/' says Hum- 
boldt, " remained involuntarily fixed upon it. Such 
impressions do not fade from the memory of those 
who have undertaken long voyages at an age when 
the emotions of the heart are in full force. How 
many recollections are awakened in the imagination 



26 EQUINOCTIAL CURRENT. 

by a luminous point, which in the middle of a dark 
nighty appearing at intervals above the agitated 
waves, marks the shore of one's native land I" 

They were obliged to run under courses, and 
proceeded at the rate of ten knots, although the 
vessel was not a fast sailer. At six in the morning 
she rolled so much that the fore topgallant-mast 
was carried away. On the 7th they were in the 
latitude of Cape Finisterre, the group of granitic 
rocks on which, named the Sierra de Torinona, is 
visible at sea to the distance of 59 miles. On the 
8th, at sunset, they discovered from the mast-head 
an English convoy; and to avoid them they altered 
their course during the night. On the 9th they 
began to feel the effect of the great current which 
flows from the Azores towards the Straits of Gibral- 
tar and the Canaries. Its direction was at first east 
by south ; but nearer the inlet it became due east, 
and its force was such as, between 37° and 30° lat., 
sometimes to carry the vessel, in twenty- four hours, 
from 21 to 30 miles eastward. 

Between the tropics, especially from the coast of 
Senegal to the Caribbean Sea, there is a stream 
that always flows from east to west, and which is 
named the Equinoctial Current. Its mean rapidity 
may be estimated at ten or eleven miles in twenty- 
four hours. This movement of the waters, which is 
also observed in the Pacific Ocean, having a direction 
contrary to that of the earth's rotation, is supposed 
to be connected with the latter only in so far as it 
changes into trade- winds those aerial currents from 
the poles, which, in the lower regions of the atmo- 
sphere, carry the cold air of the high latitudes to- 
wards the equator; and it is to the general impulse 



GULF-STREAM. Zj 

which these winds give to the surface of the ocean 
that the phenomenon in question is to be attributed. 
This current carries the waters of the Atlantic 
towards the Mosquito and Honduras coasts, from 
which they move northwards, and passing into the 
Gulf of Mexico follow the bendings of the shore 
from Vera Cruz to the mouth of the Rio del Norte, 
and from thence to the mouths of the Mississippi 
and the shoals at the southern extremity of Florida. 
After performing this circuit, it again directs it- 
self northward, rushing with great impetuosity 
through the Straits of Bahama. At the end of these 
narrows, in the parallel of Cape Canaveral, the 
flow, which rushes onward like a torrent sometimes 
at the rate of five miles an hour, runs to the north- 
east. Its velocity diminishes and its breadth en- 
larges as it proceeds northward. Between Cape 
Biscayo and the Bank of Bahama the width is 
only 52 miles, while in 28^° of lat. it is 59 ; and 
in the parallel of Charlestown, opposite Cape Hen- 
lopen, it is from 138 to 173 miles, the rapidity being 
from three to five miles an hour where the stream is 
narrow, and only one mile as it advances towards 
the north. To the east of Boston and in the meri- 
dian of Halifax the current is nearly 2J6 miles 
broad. Here it suddenly turns towards the east ; its 
western margin touching the extremity of the great 
bank of Newfoundland. From this to the Azores 
it continues to flow to the E. and E.S.E., still re- 
taining part of the impulse which it had received 
nearly 1150 miles distant in the Straits of Florida. 
In the meridian of the Isles of Corvo and Flores, the 
most western of the Azores, it is not less than 552 
miles in breadth. From the Azores it directs itself 



28 GULF-STREAM MARINE ANIMALS. 

towards the Straits of Gibraltar, the island of Ma- 
deira, and the Canary Isles. To the south of Ma- 
deira we can distinctly follow its motion to the 
S.E. and S.S.E. bearing on the shores of Africa, 
between Capes Cantin and Bojador. Cape Blanco, 
which, next to Cape Verd, farther to the south, is 
the most prominent part of that coast, seems again 
to influence the direction of the stream; and in 
this parallel it mixes with the great equinoctial 
current as already described. 

In this manner the waters of the Atlantic, be- 
tween the parallels of 11° and 43°, are carried round 
in a continual whirlpool, which Humboldt calcu- 
lates must take two years and ten months to per- 
form its circuit of 13,118 miles. This great current 
is named the Gulf-stream. Off the coast of New- 
foundland a branch separates from it, and runs from 
S.W. to N.E. towards the coasts of Europe. 

Prom Corunna to 36° of latitude, our travel- 
lers had scarcely seen any other animals than 
terns (or sea-swallows) and a few dolphins; but 
on the 11th June they entered a zone in which the 
whole sea was covered with a prodigious quantity of 
medusa?. The vessel was almost becalmed ; but the 
mollusca advanced towards the south-east with a ra- 
pidity equal to four times that of the current, and con- 
tinued to pass nearly three quarters of an hour, after 
which only a few scattered individuals were seen. 
Among these animals they recognised the Medusa 
aurita of Baster, the M. pelagica of Bosc, and a 
third approaching in its characters to the M. hyso- 
cella, which is distinguished by its yellowish-brown 
colour, and by having its tentacula longer than the 
body. Several of them were four inches in diame- 



MEDUSAE FALLING STARS. 29 

ter, and the bright reflection from their bodies con- 
trasted pleasantly with the azure tint of the sea. 

On the morning of the 13th June,, in lat. 34° 33', 
they observed large quantities of the Dagysa no- 
tata, of which several had been seen among the me- 
dusae, and which consist of little transparent gela- 
tinous sacs, extending to 1 4 lines, with a diameter 
of 2 or 3, and open at both ends. These cylinders 
are longitudinally agglutinated like the cells of 
a honeycomb, and form strings from six to eight 
inches in length. They observed, after it became 
dark, that none of the three species of medusa 
which they had collected emitted light unless they 
were slightly shaken. When a very irritable indi- 
vidual is placed on a tin plate, and the latter is 
struck with a piece of metal, the vibrations of the 
tin are sufficient to make the animal shine. Some- 
times, on galvanizing medusae, the phosphorescence 
appears at the moment when the chain closes, al- 
though the exciters are not in direct contact with 
the body of the subject. The fingers, after touch- 
ing it, remain luminous for two or three minutes. 
Wood, on being rubbed with a medusa, becomes lu- 
minous, and, after the phosphorescence has ceased, 
it may be rekindled by passing the dry hand over 
it ; but when the light is a second time extinguish- 
ed it cannot be reproduced. 

Between the island of Madeira and the coast of 
Africa, they were struck by the prodigious quantity 
of falling stars, which continued to increase as they 
advanced southward. These meteors, Humboldt 
remarks, are more common and more luminous in 
certain regions of the earth than in others. He has 
nowhere seen them more frequent than in the vi- 



30 SWALLOW LANCEROTA. 

einity of the volcanoes of Quito, and in that part of 
the South Sea which washes the shores of Guatimala. 
According to the observations of Benzenherg and 
Brandes, many falling stars noticed in Europe were 
only 63; 950 yards, or a little more than 36 miles 
high; and one was measured, the elevation of which 
did not exceed 29,843 yards, or about 17 miles. 
In warm climates, and especially between the tro- 
pics, they often leave behind them a train which 
remains luminous for twelve or fifteen seconds. At 
other times they seem to burst, and separate into a 
number of sparks. They are generally much lower 
than in the north of Europe. These meteors can be 
observed only when the sky is clear ; and perhaps 
none has ever been seen beneath a cloud. Accord- 
ing to the observations of M. Arago, they usually 
follow the same course for several hours; and in 
this case their direction is that of the wind. 

When the voyagers were 138 miles to the east of 
Madeira, a common swallow (Hirundo nistica) 
perched on the topsail-yard, and was caught. What 
could induce a bird, asks our traveller, to fly so far 
at this season, and in calm weather ? In the expe- 
dition of Entrecasteaux, a swallow was also seen 
at the distance of 207 miles off Cape Blanco ; but 
this happened about the end of October, and M. 
Labillardiere imagined that it had newly arrived 
from Europe. 

The Pizarro had been ordered to touch at Lan- 
cerota, one of the Canaries, to ascertain whether the 
harbour of Santa Cruz in Teneriffe was blockaded 
by the English ; and on the 16th, in the afternoon, 
the seamen discovered land, which proved to be 
that island. As they advanced, they saw first the 



ISLAND OF LANCEROTA. 31 

island of Forteventura, famous for the number of 
camels reared upon it, anr* soon after the smaller 
one of Lobos. Spending part of the night on deck, 
the naturalists viewed the volcanic summits of Lan- 
cerota illumined by the moon, and enjoyed the 
beautiful serenity of the atmosphere. After a time, 
great black clouds, rising behind the volcano, shroud- 
ed at intervals the moon and the constellation of 
Scorpio. They observed lights carried about on the 
shore, probably by fishermen, and having been em- 
ployed occasionally during their passage in reading 
some of the old Spanish voyages, these moving 
fires recalled to their imagination those seen on the 
island of Guanahani on the memorable night of the 
discovery of the New World. 

In passing through the archipelago of small 
islands, situated to the north of Lancerota, they 
were struck by the configuration of the coasts, which 
resembled the banks of the Rhine near Bonn. It 
is a remarkable circumstance, our author observes, 
that, w T hile the forms of animals and plants exhibit 
the greatest diversity in different climates, the rocky 
masses present the same appearances in both he- 
mispheres. In the Canary Isles, as in Auvergne, 
in the Mittelgebirge, in Bohemia, in Mexico, and 
on the banks of the Ganges, the trap formation dis- 
plays a symmetrical arrangement of the mountains, 
exhibiting truncated cones and graduated platforms. 

The whole western part of Lancerota announces 
the character of a country recently deranged by vol- 
canic action, every part being black, arid, and desti- 
tute of soil. The Abbe Viera relates, that in 1730 
more than half of the island changed its appearance. 
The great volcano ravaged the most fertile and best 

2 



32 VOLCANO OF LANCEROTA. 

cultivated district, and entirely destroyed nine villa- 
ges. Its eruptions were preceded by an earthquake, 
and violent shocks continued to be felt for several 
years, — a phenomenon of rare occurrence, the agita- 
tion of the ground usually ceasing after a disengage- 
ment of lava or other volcanic products. The sum- 
mit of the great crater is rounded, and its absolute 
height does not appear to be much above 1918 feet. 
The island of Lancerota was formerly named Tite- 
roigotra, and at the time of the arrival of the Spa- 
niards its inhabitants were more civilized than the 
other Canarians, living in houses built of hewn stone, 
while the Guanches of Teneriffe resided in caves. 
There was then a very singular institution in the 
island. The women had several husbands, each of 
whom enjoyed the prerogative belonging to the head 
of a family in succession, the others remaining for 
the time in the capacity of common domestics.* 

The occurrence, between the islands of Alegranza 
and Montana Clara, of a singular marine production, 
with light-green leaves, which was brought up by 
the lead from a great depth, affords our author, in 
his narrative, an opportunity of stating some inte- 
resting facts respecting the colouring of plants. This 
seaweed, growing at the bottom of the ocean at a 
depth of 205 feet, had its vine-shaped leaves as 

* A similar practice is stated by Mr Fraser, in his cc Journal of 
a Tour through the Himala Mountains," p. 206, to occur in seve- 
ral of the hill provinces of India. " It is usual all over the country 
for the future husband to purchase his wife from her parents ; and 
the sum thus paid varies of course with the rank of the purchaser. 
The difficulty of raising this sum, and the alleged expense of main- 
taining women, may in part account for, if it cannot excuse, a most 
disgusting usage, which is universal over the country. Three or 
four or more brothers marry and cohabit with one woman, who is the 
wife of all. They are unable to raise the requisite sum individually, 
and thus club their shares, and buy this one common spouse." 



COLOUR OF MARINE PLANTS. 33 

green as those of our graminea?. According to Bou- 
guer's experiments, light is weakened after a pass- 
age of 192 feet, in the proportion of 1 to 1477*8. 
At the depth of 205, this fucus could only have 
had light equal to half of that supplied by a candle 
seen at the distance of a foot. The germs of several 
of the liliacese, the embryo of the mallows and other 
families, the branches of some subterranean plants, 
and vegetables transported into mines in which the 
air contains hydrogen or a great quantity of azote, 
become green without light. From these facts one 
might be induced to think that the existence of car- 
buret of iron, which gives the green colour to the 
parenchmay of plants, is not dependent upon the 
presence of the solar rays only. Turner and many 
other botanists are of opinion that most of the sea- 
weeds which we find floating on the ocean, and 
which in certain parts of the Atlantic present the 
appearance of a vast inundated meadow, grow ori- 
ginally at the bottom of the sea, and are torn oif by 
the waves. If this opinion be correct, the family 
of marine algae presents great difficulties to those 
physiologists who persist in thinking that, in all 
cases, the absence of light must produce blanching. 
The captain, having mistaken a basaltic rock for 
a castle, saluted it, and sent one of the officers to 
inquire if the English were cruising in those parts. 
Our travellers took advantage of the boat to examine 
the land, which they had regarded as a prolongation 
of the coasts of Lancerota, but which turned out 
to be the small island of La Graciosa. " Nothing," 
says Humboldt, " can express the emotion a natu- 
ralist feels when for the first time he lands in a place 
which is not European. The attention is fixed 

B 



34 LA GRACIOSA. 

upon so many objects, that one can hardly give an ac- 
count of the impressions which he receives. At every 
step he imagines that he finds a new production; and, 
in the midst of this agitation, he often does not recog- 
nise those which are most common in our botanical 
gardens and museums/' A fisherman, who, having 
been frightened by the firing, had fled from them, 
but whom the sailors overtook, stated that no vessels 
had been seen for several weeks. The rocks of this 
small island were of basalt and marl, destitute of 
trees or shrubs, in most places without a trace of 
soil, and but scantily crusted with lichens. 

The basalts are not columnar, but arranged in 
strata from 10 to 16 inches thick, and incline to the 
north-west at an angle of 80 degrees, alternating 
with marl. Some of these strata are compact, and 
contain large crystals of foliated olivine, often por- 
ous, with oblong cavities, from two to eight lines in 
diameter, which are coated with calcedony, and en- 
close fragments of compact basalt. The marl, which 
alternates more than a hundred times with the trap, 
is of a yellowish colour, extremely friable, very te- 
nacious internally, and often divided into regular 
prisms like those of basalt. It contains much lime, 
and effervesces strongly with muriatic acid. The 
travellers had not time to reach the summit of a hill, 
the base of which was formed of clay, with layers 
of basalt resting on it, precisely as in the Schneiben- 
berger Huegel of Saxony. These rocks were co- 
vered with hyalite, of which they procured several 
fine specimens, leaving masses eight or ten inches 
square untouched. 

On the shore there were two kinds of sand, the 
one black and basaltic, the other white and quartzy. 



ROCA DEL OESTE. 35 

Exposed to the sun's rays the thermometer rose in 
the former to 124-2°, and in the latter to 104°; 
while in the shade the temperature of the air was 
81 *5°, being 14° higher than the sea air. The quartzy 
sand contains fragments of felspar. Pieces of gra- 
nite have been observed at Teneriffe ; and the island 
of Gomera, according to M. Broussonet, contains a 
nucleus of mica-slate. From these facts Humboldt 
infers that, in the Canaries, as in the Andes of Qui- 
to, in Auvergne, Greece, and most parts of the globe, 
the subterranean fires have made their way through 
primitive rocks. 

Having re-embarked, they hoisted sail, and en- 
deavoured to get out again by the strait which se- 
parates Alegranza from Montana Clara ; but, the 
wind having fallen, the currents drove them close 
upon a rock marked in old charts by the name of 
Infierno, and in modern ones under that of Roca del 
Oeste, — a basaltic mass which has probably been 
raised by volcanic agency. Tacking during the night 
between Montana Clara and this islet, they were 
several times in great danger among shelves towards 
which they were drawn by the motion of the water ; 
but the wind freshening in the morning, they suc- 
ceeded in passing the channel, and sailed along the 
coasts of Lancerota, Lobos, and Forte vent ura. 

The haziness of the atmosphere prevented them 
from seeing the Peak of Teneriffe during the whole 
of their passage from Lancerota ; but our traveller, 
in his narrative, states the following interesting cir- 
cumstances relative to the distance at which moun- 
tains may be seen. If the height of the Peak, 
he says, is 12,182 feet, as indicated by the last 
trigonometrical measurement of Borda, its summit 



36 DISTANCE AT WHICH MOUNTAINS 

ought to be visible at the distance of 148 miles,, 
supposing the eye at the level of the ocean, and the 
refraction equal to 0*079 of the distance. Navigators 
who frequent these latitudes find that the Peaks of 
Teneriffe and the Azores are sometimes observed at 
very great distances, while at other times they can- 
not be seen when the interval is considerably less, al- 
though the sky is clear. Such circumstances are of 
importance to navigators, who, in returning to Eu- 
rope, impatiently wait for a sight of these mountains 
to rectify their longitude. The constitution of the 
atmosphere has a great influence on the visibility of 
distant objects, the transparency of the air being 
much increased when a certain quantity of water is 
uniformly diffused through it. 

It is not surprising that the Peak of Teneriffe 
should be less frequently visible at a great distance 
than the tops of the Andes, not being like them in- 
vested with perpetual snow. The Sugar-loaf which 
constitutes the summit of the former, no doubt re- 
flects a great degree of light, on account of the white 
colour of the pumice with which it is covered ; but 
its height does not form a twentieth part of the total 
elevation, and the sides of the volcano are coated 
with blocks of dark-coloured lava, or with luxuriant 
vegetation, the masses of which reflect little light, 
the leaves of the trees being separated by shadows 
of greater extent than the illuminated parts. 

Hence the Peak of Teneriffe is to be referred to 
the class of mountains which are seen at great dis- 
tances only in what Bouguer calls a negative man- 
ner, or because they intercept the light transmitted 
from the extreme limits of the atmosphere ; and we 
perceive their existence only by means of the dif- 



MAY BE SEEN AT SEA. 3? 

ference of intensity that subsists between the light 
which surrounds them, and that reflected by the par- 
ticles of air placed between the object of vision and 
the observer. In receding from Teneriffe, the Sugar- 
loaf is long seen in a positive manner, as it reflects 
a whitish light, and detaches itself clearly from the 
sky; but as this terminal cone is only 512 feet 
high, by 256 in breadth at its summit, it has been 
questioned whether it can be visible beyond the dis- 
tance of 138 miles. If it be admitted that the mean 
breadth of the Sugar-loaf is 639^ feet, it will 
still subtend, at the distance now named, an angle 
of more than three minutes, which is enough to 
render it visible ; and were the height of the cone 
greatly to exceed its basis, the angle might be still 
less, and the mass yet make an impression on our 
organs; for it has been proved by micrometrical 
observations, that the limit of vision is one minute 
only when the dimensions of objects are the same 
in all directions. 

As the visibility of an object, which detaches it- 
self from the sky of a brown colour, depends on 
the quantities of light the eye meets in two lines, 
of which one ends at the mountain and the other 
is prolonged to the surface of the aerial ocean, it 
follows that the farther we remove from the object, 
the less also becomes the difference between the 
light of the surrounding atmosphere and that of the 
strata of air placed before the mountain. For this 
reason, when summits of low elevation begin to ap- 
pear above the horizon, they are of a darker tint 
than those more elevated ones which we discover at 
very great distances. In like manner, the visibility 
of mountains which are only negatively perceived, 



38 DISTANCE AT WHICH MOUNTAINS 

does not depend solely upon the state of the low 
regions of the air, to which our meteorological ob- 
servations are confined, but also upon its transpa- 
rency and physical constitution in the most elevated 
parts ; for the image is more distinctly detached, 
the more intense the aerial light which comes from 
the limits of the atmosphere has originally been, or 
the less it has lost in its passage. This in a certain 
degree accounts for the circumstance, that the Peak 
is sometimes visible and sometimes invisible to 
navigators who are equally distant from it, when 
the state of the thermometer and hygrometer is pre- 
cisely the same in the lower stratum of air. It is 
even probable, that the chance of perceiving this 
volcano would not be greater, were the cone equal, 
as in Vesuvius, to a fourth part of the whole height. 
The ashes spread upon its surface do not reflect so 
much light as the snow with which the summits of 
the Andes are covered, but, on the contrary, make 
the mountain, when seen from a great distance, 
become more obscurely detached, and assume a 
brown tint. They contribute, as it were, to equa- 
lise the portions of aerial light, the variable differ- 
ence of which renders the object more or less dis- 
tinctly visible. Bare calcareous mountains, sum- 
mits covered with granitic sand, and the elevated 
savannahs of tlie Andes, which are of a bright yel- 
low colour, are more clearly seen at small distances 
than objects that are perceived only in a negative 
manner ; but theory points out a limit beyond which 
the latter are more distinctly detached from the 
azure vault of the sky. 

The aerial light projected on the tops of hills in- 
creases the visibility of those which are seen posi- 



MAY BE SEEN AT SEA. 39 

tively, but diminishes that of such as are detached 
with a brown colour. Bouguer, proceeding on theo- 
retical data, has found that mountains which are 
seen negatively cannot be perceived at distances 
exceeding 121 miles; but experience goes against 
this conclusion. The Peak of Teneriffe has often been 
observed at the distance of 124, 131, and even 138 
miles; and the summit of Mowna-Roa in the Sand- 
wich Isles, which is probably 16,000 feet high, has 
been seen, at a period when it was destitute of snow, 
skirting the horizon from a distance of 183 miles. 
This is the most striking example yet known of the 
visibility of high land, and is the more remarkable 
that the object was negatively seen. 

The atmosphere continuing hazy, the navigators 
did not discover the island of Grand Canary, not- 
withstanding its height, until the evening of the 
18th June. On the following day they saw the point 
of Naga, but the Peak of Teneriffe still remained 
invisible. After repeatedly sounding, on account 
of the thickness of the mist, they anchored in the 
road of Santa Cruz, w T hen at the moment they be- 
gan to salute the place the fog instantaneously dis- 
persed, and the Peak of Teyde, illuminated by the 
first rays of the sun, appeared in a break above the 
clouds. Our travellers betook themselves to the 
bow of the vessel to enjoy the majestic spectacle, 
when, at the very moment, four English ships were 
seen close astern. The anchor was immediately got 
up, and the Pizarro stood in as close as possible, to 
place herself under the protection of the fort. 

While waiting the governor's permission to land. 
Humboldt employed the time in making observa- 
tions for determining the longitude of the mole of 



40 LANDING AT SANTA CRUZ. 

Santa Cruz and the dip of the needle. Berthoud's 
chronometer gave 18° 33' 10", the accuracy of which 
result, although differing from the longitude assign- 
ed by Cook and others, was afterwards confirmed 
by Krusenstern, who found that port 16° 12' 45" 
west of Greenwich, and consequently 18° 33' 0" 
west of Paris. The dip of the magnetic needle 
was 62° 24', although it varied considerably in dif- 
ferent places along the shore. After undergoing 
the fatigue of answering the numberless questions 
proposed by persons who visited them on board, 
our travellers were at length permitted to land. 



NTA CRUZ OF TENERIFFE. 41 



CHAPTER III. 

Island of Teneriffe. 

Santa Cruz — Villa de la Laguna — Guanches — Present Inhabitants 
of Teneriffe — Climate — Scenery of the Coast — Orotava — Dragon- 
tree — Ascent of the Peak — Its Geological Character — Eruptions 
— Zones of Vegetation — Fires of St John. 

Santa Cruz, the Anaja of the Guanches, which is 
a neat town with a population of 8000 persons, may 
be considered as a great caravansera situated on the 
road to America and India, and has consequently 
been often described. The recommendations of the 
court of Madrid procured for our travellers the most 
satisfactory reception in the Canaries. The cap- 
tain-general gave permission to examine the island, 
and Colonel Armiaga, who commanded a regiment 
of infantry, extended his hospitality to them, and 
showed the most polite attention. In his garden 
they admired the banana, the papaw, and other 
plants cultivated in the open air, which they had 
before seen only in hothouses. 

In the evening they made a botanical excursion 
towards the fort of Passo Alto, along the basaltic 
rocks which close the promontory of Naga, but had 
little success, as the drought and dust had in a man- 
ner destroyed the vegetation. The Cacalia kleltua. 
Euphorbia canariensis, and other succulent plants, 



42 VILLA DE LA LAGUNA. 

which derive their nourishment more 

than from the soil, reminded them b : >ect 

that the Canaries belong to Africa, an 

most arid part of that continent. 

The captain of the Pizarro having 2 
that, on account of the blockade by 
they ought not to reckon upon a longer stay tnan 
four or five days, they hastened to set out for the 
port of Orotava, where they might find guides for 
the ascent of the Peak ; and on the 20th, before 
sunrise, they were on the way to Villa de la Laguna, 
which is 2238 feet higher than the port of Santa 
Cruz. The road to this place is on the right of a 
torrent which, in the rainy season, forms beautiful 
falls. Near the town they met with some white 
camels, employed in transporting merchandise. 
These animals, as well as horses, were introduced 
into the Canary Islands in the fifteenth century 
by the Norman conquerors, and were unknown to 
the Guanches. Camels are more abundant in Lan- 
cerota and Forteventura, which are nearer the con- 
tinent, than at Teneriffe, where they very seldom 
propagate. 

The hill on which the Villa de la Laguna stands 
belongs to the series of basaltic mountains, which 
forms a girdle around the Peak, and is independent 
of the newer volcanic rocks. The basalt on which 
the travellers walked was blackish-brown, compact, 
and partially decomposed. They found in it horn- 
blende, olivine, and transparent pyroxene, with 
lamellar fracture, of an olive-green tint, and often 
crystallized in six-sided prisms. The rock of Laguna 
is not columnar, but divided into thin beds, inclined 
at an angle of from 30° to 48°, and has no appear- 



VILLA DE LA LAGUNA. 43 

. ing been formed by a current of lava 

froii. ak. Some arborescent Euphorbia?,, Ca- 

., and Cacti, were the only plants observ- 

I parched acclivities. The mules slipped 

p on the inclined surfaces of the rock, 

; aces of an old road were observable, 

wmcn, wiui the numerous other indications that 

occur in these colonies, afford evidence of the activity 

displayed by the Spanish nation in the sixteenth 

century. 

The heat of Santa Cruz, which is suffocating, is 
in a great measure to be attributed to the reverbe- 
ration of the rocks in its vicinity ; but as the tra- 
vellers approached Laguna they became sensible of 
a very pleasant diminution of temperature. In fact, 
the perpetual coolness which exists here renders it 
a delightful residence. It is situated in a small 
plain, surrounded by gardens, and commanded by 
a hill crowned with the laurel, the myrtle, and the 
arbutus. The rain, in collecting, forms from time 
to time a kind of large pool or marsh, which has 
induced travellers to describe the capital of Tene- 
riffe as situated on the margin of a lake. The town, 
which was deprived of its opulence in consequence 
of the port of Garachico having been destroyed by 
the lateral eruptions of the volcano, has only 9000 
inhabitants, of which about 400 are monks. It is 
surrounded by numerous windmills for corn. Hum- 
boldt observes, that the cereal grasses were known 
to the original inhabitants, and that parched barley 
flour and goat's milk formed their principal meals. 
This food tends to show that they were connected 
with the nations of the Old Continent, perhaps even 
with those of the Caucasian race, and not with the 



44 GUANCHES. 

inhabitants of the New World, who 
the arrival of the Europeans among t 
knowledge of grain,, milk, or cheese. 

The Canary Islands were originally h 
a people famed for their tall stature, | 
by the name of Guanches. They hi 

tirely disappeared under the oppressio] 

powerful and more enlightened race, which, assum- 
ing the superiority supposed to be sanctioned by 
civilisation and the profession of the Christian faith, 
disposed of the natives in a manner little accordant 
with the character of a true follower of the cross. 
The archipelago of the Canaries was divided into 
small states hostile to each other ; and in the fifteenth 
century, the Spaniards and Portuguese made voy- 
ages to these islands for slaves, as the Europeans 
have latterly been accustomed to do to the coast of 
Guinea. One Guanche then became the property of 
another, who sold him to the dealers ; while many, 
rather than become slaves, killed their children and 
themselves. The natives had been greatly reduced 
in this manner, when Alonzo de Lugo completed 
their subjugation. The residue of that unhappy 
people perished by a terrible pestilence, which was 
supposed to have originated from the bodies left ex- 
posed by the Spaniards after the battle of Laguna. 
At the present day, no individual of pure blood 
exists in these islands, where all that remains of 
the aborigines are certain mummies, reduced to an 
extraordinary degree of desiccation, and found in the 
sepulchral caverns which are cut in the rock on the 
eastern slope of the Peak. These skeletons contain 
remains of aromatic plants, especially the Chenopo- 
dium ambrosioides, and are often decorated with 



CLIMATE OF TENERIFFE. 45 

to which are suspended little cakes of 
rth. 

)le who succeeded the Guanches were 
*om the Spaniards and Normans. The 
ibitants are described by our author as 
.oral and religious character, but of a rov- 
ing and enterprising disposition,, and less industrious 
at home than abroad. The population in 1790 was 
174^000. The produce of the several islands con- 
sists chiefly of wheat, barley, maize, potatoes, wine, 
a great variety of fruits, sugar, and other articles of 
food ; but the lower orders are frequently obliged to 
have recourse to the roots of a species of fern. The 
principal objects of commerce are wine, brandy, 
archil (a kind of lichen used as a dye), and soda. 

Teneriffe has been praised for the salubrity of its 
climate. The ground of the Canary Islands rises 
gradually to a great height, and presents, on a small 
scale, the temperature of every zone, from the in- 
tense heat of Africa to the cold of the Alpine re- 
gions; so that a person may have the benefit of 
whatever climate best suits his temperament or dis- 
ease. A similar variety exists as to the vegetation ; 
and no country seemed to our travellers more fitted 
to dissipate melancholy, and restore peace to an 
agitated mind, than Teneriffe and Madeira, where 
the natural beauty of the situation, and the salu- 
brity of the air, conspire to quiet the anxieties of 
the spirit and invigorate the body, while the feel- 
ings are not harassed by the revolting sight of slav- 
ery, which exists in almost all the European colonies. 
In winter the climate of Laguna is excessively 
foggy, and the inhabitants often complain of cold, 
although snow never falls. The lowest height at 

6 



46 VEGETATION OF TENERIFI 

which it occurs annually in Teneriif 
been ascertained; but it has been set 
lying above Esperanza de la Laguna, 
town of that name, in the gardens ( 
breadfruit-tree (Artocarpus incisa), i 
M. Broussonet, has been naturalized, 
with this subject, Humboldt remarks 
countries the plants are so vigorous tnat u±ey cun 
bear a greater degree of frost than might be ex- 
pected, provided it be of short duration. The ba- 
nana is cultivated in Cuba, in places where the 
thermometer sometimes descends to very near the 
freezing-point ; and in Spain and Italy, orange and 
date trees do not perish, although the cold may be 
two degrees below zero. Trees growing in a fertile 
soil are remarked by cultivators to be less delicate, and 
less affected by changes of temperature, than those 
planted in land that affords little nutriment. 

From Laguna to the port of Orotava, and the 
western coast of Teneriffe, the route is at first over 
a hilly country covered by a black argillaceous soil. 
The subjacent rock is concealed by layers of ferru- 
ginous earth ; but in some of the ravines are seen 
columnar basalts, with recent conglomerates, resem- 
bling volcanic tufas lying over them, which contain 
fragments of the former, and also, as is asserted, 
marine petrifactions. This delightful country, of 
which travellers of all nations speak with enthusiasm, 
is entered by the valley of Tacoronte, and presents 
scenes of unrivalled beauty. The seashore is orna- 
mented with palms of the date and cocoa species. 
Farther up, groups of musae and dragon-trees pre- 
sent themselves. The declivities are covered with 
vines. Orange-trees, myrtles, and cypresses, sur- 



SCENERY DURASNO. 47 

pels that have been raised on the little 
nds are separated by enclosures form- 
*e and cactus. Multitudes of crypto- 
especially ferns, cover the walls. In 
the volcano is wrapped in snow, 

t ^ued spring in this beautiful district; 

and in summer, towards evening, the sea-breezes 
diffuse a gentle coolness over it. From Tegueste 
and Tacoronte to the village of San Juan de la Ram- 
bla, the coast is cultivated like a garden, and might 
be compared to the neighbourhood of Capua or Va- 
lentia ; but the western part of Teneriffe is much 
more beautiful, on account of the proximity of the 
Peak, the sight of which has a most imposing effect, 
and excites the imagination to penetrate into the 
mysterious source of volcanic action. For thou- 
sands of years no light has been observed at the 
summit of the mountain, and yet enormous lateral 
eruptions, the last of which happened in 1798, 
prove the activity of a fire which is far from being 
extinct. There is, besides, something melancholy 
in the sight of a crater placed in the midst of a fer- 
tile and highly-cultivated country. 

Pursuing their course to the port of Orotava, the 
travellers passed the beautiful hamlets of Matanza 
and Vittoria (slaughter and victory), — names which 
occur together in all the Spanish colonies, and pre- 
sent a disagreeable contrast to the feelings of peace 
and quiet which these countries inspire. On their 
way they visited a botanic garden at Durasno, where 
they found M. Le Gros, the French vice-consul, who 
subsequently served as an excellent guide to the 
Peak. The idea of forming such an establishment 
at Teneriffe originated with the Marquis de Nava, 



48 



OROTAVA. 




Dragon-tree of Orotava. 

who thought that the Canary Islands afford the most 
suitable place for naturalizing the plants of the East 
and West Indies, previous to their introduction to 
Europe. They arrived very late at the port, and 
next morning commenced their journey to the Peak, 
accompanied by M. Le Gros, M. Lalande, secretary 
of the French consulate at Santa Cruz, the English 
gardener of Durasno, and a number of guides. 

Orotava, the Taoro of the Guanches, is situated I 
on a very steep declivity, and has a pleasant aspect 
when viewed from a distance, although the houses, I 
when seen at hand, have a gloomy appearance. One I 
of the most remarkable objects in this place is thel 
dragon-tree in the garden of M. Franqui, of which [ 
an engraving is here presented, and which our tra- 



DRAGON-TREE OF OROTAVA. 49 

vellers found to be about 60 feet high, with a cir- 
cumference of 48 feet near the roots. The trunk di- 
vides into a great number of branches, which rise 
in the form of a candelabrum., and are terminated 
by tufts of leaves. This tree is said to have been 
revered by the Guanches as the ash of Ephesus 
was by the Greeks ; and in 1402, at the time of the 
first expedition of Bethencour, was as large and as 
hollow as our travellers found it. As the species 
is of very slow growth, the age of this in dividual 
must be great. It is singular, that the dragon-tree 
should have been cultivated in these islands at so 
early a period, it being a native of India,, and no- 
where occurring on the African continent. 

Leaving Orotava they passed by a narrow and 
stony path through a beautiful wood of chestnuts 
to a place covered with brambles, laurels, and 
arborescent heaths, where, under a solitary pine, 
known by the name of Pino del Dornajito, they 
procured a supply of water. From this place to 
the crater they continued to ascend without crossing 
a single valley, passing over several regions distin- 
guished by their peculiar vegetation, and rested 
during part of the night in a very elevated position, 
where they suffered severely from the cold. About 
three in the morning they began to climb the Su- 
gar-loaf, or small terminal cone, by the dull light 
of fir-torches, and examined a small subterranean 
glacier or cave, whence the towns below are supplied 
with ice throughout the summer. 

In the twilight they observed a phenomenon not 
unusual on high mountains, — a stratum of white 
clouds spread out beneath, concealing the face of 
the ocean, and presenting the appearance of a vast 



50 ASCENT OF THE PEAK. 

plain covered with snow. Soon afterwards another 
very curious sight occurred, namely, the semblance 
of small rockets thrown into the air, and which 
they at first imagined to be a certain indication of 
some new eruption of the great volcano of Lance- 
rota. But the illusion soon ceased, and they found 
that the luminous points were only the images of 
stars magnified and refracted by the vapours. They 
remained motionless at intervals, then rose perpen- 
dicularly, descended sidewise, and returned to their 
original position. After three hours' march over an 
extremely rugged tract, the travellers reached a 
small plain called La Rambleta, from the centre of 
which rises the Piton or Sugar-loaf. The slope of 
this cone, covered with volcanic ashes and pumice, 
is so steep that it would have been almost impossible 
to reach the summit, had they not ascended by an 
old current of lava, which had in some measure re- 
sisted the action of the atmosphere. 

On attaining the top of this steep, they found the 
crater surrounded by a wall of compact lava, in which, 
however, there was a breach affording a passage to 
the bottom of the funnel or caldera, the greatest dia- 
meter of which at the mouth seemed to be 320 feet. 
There were no large openings in the crater; but aque- 
ous vapours were emitted by some of the crevices, in 
which heat was perceptible. In fact, the volcano has 
not been active at the summit for thousands of years, 
its eruptions havingbeen from the sides, and the depth 
of the crater is only about 106 feet. After examin- 
ing the objects that presented themselves in this ele- 
vated spot and enjoying the vast prospect, the tra- 
vellers commenced their descent, and towards even- 
ing reached the port of Orotava. 



PEAK OF TENERIFFE. 51 

The Peak of Teneriffe forms a pyramidal mass, 
having a circumference at the base of more than 
115,110 yards, and a height of 12,176 feet.* Two- 
thirds of the mass are covered with vegetation the 
remaining part being steril, and occupying about 
ten square leagues of surface. The cone is very 
small in proportion to the size of the mountain, 
it having a height of only 537 feet, or ^V of the 
whole. The lower part of the island is composed 
of basalt and other igneous rocks of ancient for- 
mation, and is separated from the more recent 
lavas and the products of the present volcano 
by strata of tufa, puzzolana, and clay. The first 
that occur in ascending the Peak are of a black co- 
lour, altered by decomposition, and sometimes po- 
rous. Their basis is wacke, and has usually an irre- 
gular, but sometimes a conchoidal fracture. They 
are divided into very thin layers, and contain oli- 
vine, magnetic iron, and augite. On the first ele- 
vated plain, that of Retama, the basaltic deposites 
disappear beneath heaps of ashes and pumice. Be- 
yond this are lavas, with a basis of pitch-stone and 
obsidian, of a blackish-brown or deep olive-green 
colour, and containing crystals of felspar, which are 

* Various measurements have been made of the height of the 
Peak of Teneriffe ; but Humboldt, after enumerating fourteen, states 
that the following alone can be considered as deserving of confidence : 

Borda's, by trigonometry, 1905 toises. 

Borda's, by the barometer, 1970 

Lamanou's, by the same, 1902 

Cordier's, by the same, 1920 

The average of these four observations makes the height 192(> 
toises ; but if the barometric measurement of Borda be rejected, as 
liable to objections particularly stated by our author, the mean of 
the remaining measurement is 1909 toises, or 12,208 English feet. 
It is seen above, that the height adopted by Humboldt is 1904 toises. 
or 12,170 English feet. 



52 VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS. 

seldom vitreous. In the middle of the Malpays or 
second platform are found, amongst the glassy kinds, 
blocks of greenish-gray clinkstone or porphyry-slate. 
Obsidian of several varieties is exceedingly abundant 
on the Peak, as well as pumice, the latter being ge- 
nerally of a white colour ; and the crater contains 
an enormous quantity of sulphur. 

The oldest written testimony, in regard to the ac- 
tivity of the volcano, dates at the beginning of the 
sixteenth century, and is contained in the narrative 
of Aloysio Cadamusto, who landed in the Canaries in 
1505. In 1558, 1646, and 1677^ eruptions took place 
in the isle of Palma ; and on the 31st December 1704, 
the Peak of Teneriffe exhibited a lateral burst, pre- 
ceded by tremendous earthquakes. On the 5th of 
January 1705, another opening occurred, the lavas 
produced by which filled the whole valley of Fas- 
nia. This aperture closed on the 13th of January ; 
but on the 2d of February, a third formed in the 
Cannada de Arafo, the stream from which divided 
into three currents. On the 5th May 1706, another 
eruption supervened, which destroyed the populous 
and opulent city of Garachico. In 1730, on the 1st 
September, the island of Lancerota was violently 
convulsed; and on the 9th June 1798, the Peak 
emitted a great quantity of matter, which continued 
to run three months and six days. 

The island of Teneriffe presents five zones of vege- 
tation, arranged in stages one above another, and 
occupying a perpendicular height of 3730 yards. 

1. The Region of Vines extends from the shores 
to an elevation varying from 430 to 640 yards, and is 
the only part carefully cultivated. It exhibits vari- 
ous species of arborescent Euphorbia?, Mesembryan- 



ZONES OF VEGETATION. 53 

thema, the Cacalia Kleinia, the Dracoena, and other 
plants, whose naked and tortuous trunks, succulent 
leaves, and bluish-green tints, constitute features 
distinctive of the vegetation of Africa. In this zone 
are raised the date-tree, the plantain, the sugar- 
cane, the Indian-fig, the arum colocasia, the olive, 
the fruit-trees of Europe, the vine, and wheat. 

2. The Region of Laurels is that which forms 
the woody part of Teneriffe, where the surface of 
the ground is always verdant, being plentifully 
watered by springs. Four kinds of laurel, an oak, 
a wild olive, two species of iron-tree, the arbutus 
callicarpa, and other evergreens adorn this zone. 
The trunks are covered by the ivy of the Canaries 
and various twining shrubs, and the woods are filled 
with numerous species of fern. The hypericum, 
and other showy plants, enrich with their beautiful 
flowers the verdant carpet of moss and grass. 

3. The Region of Vines, which commences at 
the height of 1920 yards, and has a breadth of 850, 
is characterized by a vast forest of trees, resembling 
the Scotch fir^ intermixed with juniper. 

4. The fourth zone is remarkable chiefly for the 
profusion of retama, a species of broom, which forms 
oases in the midst of a wide sea of ashes. It grows 
to the height of nine or ten feet, is ornamented with 
fragrant flowers, and furnishes food to the goats, 
which have run wild on the Peak from time im- 
memorial. 

5. The fifth zone is the Region of the Grasses, 
in which some species of these supply a scanty 
covering to the heaps of pumice, obsidian, and lava. 
A few cryptogamic plants are observed higher ; but 
the summit is entirely destitute of vegetation. 



54 FIRES OF ST JOHN. 

Thus the whole island may be considered as a fo- 
rest of laurels, arbutuses, and pines,, of which the ex- 
ternal margin only has been in some measure cleared, 
while the central part consists of a rocky and steril 
soil, unfit even for pasturage. 

The following day was passed by our travellers 
in visiting the neighbourhood of Orotava, and en- 
joying an agreeable company at Mr Cologan's. On 
the eve of St John, they were present at a pasto- 
ral fete in the garden of Mr Little, who had re- 
duced to cultivation a hill covered with volcanic sub- 
stances, from which there is a magnificent view of 
the Peak, the villages along the coast, and the isle of 
Palma. Early in the evening, the volcano sud- 
denly exhibited a most extraordinary spectacle, the 
shepherds having, in conformity to ancient custom, 
lighted the fires of St John ; the scattered masses of 
which, with the columns of smoke driven by the 
wind, formed a fine contrast to the deep verdure 
of the w^oods that covered the sides of the moun- 
tain, while the silence of nature was broken at in- 
tervals by the shouts of joy which came from afar. 



DEPARTURE FROM SANTA CRUZ. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Passage from Teneriffe to Cumana. 

Departure from Santa Cruz — Floating" Seaweeds — Flying-fish — 
Stars — Malignant Fever — Island of Tobago — Death of a Pas- 
senger — Island of Coche — Port of Cumana — Observations made 
during the Voyage ; Temperature of the Air ; Temperature of 
the Sea ; Hygrometrical State of the Air ; Colour of the Sky and 
Ocean. 

Having sailed from Santa Cruz on the evening 
of the 25th of June, with a strong wind from the 
north-east, our travellers soon lost sight of the Ca- 
nary Islands, the mountains of which were cover- 
ed with reddish vapour, the Peak alone appearing 
at intervals in the breaks. The passage from Te- 
neriffe to Cumana was performed in twenty days, 
the distance being 3106 miles. 

The wind gradually subsided as they retired from 
the African coast. Short calms of several hours 
occasionally took place, which were regularly inter- 
rupted by slight squalls, accompanied by masses of 
dark clouds, emitting a few large drops of rain, but 
without thunder. To the north of the Cape Verd 
Islands they met with large patches of floating sea- 
weed (Fucus nutans), which grows on submarine 
rocks, from the equator to forty degrees of lati- 
tude on either side. These scattered plants, how- 
ever, must not be confounded with the vast beds, 



56 FLOATING SEAWEEDS. 

said by Columbus to resemble extensive meadows,, 
and which inspired with terror the crew of the Santa 
Maria. From a comparison of numerous journals 
it appears that there are two such fields of seaweed 
in the Atlantic. The largest occurs a little to the 
west of the meridian of Fayal, one of the Azores, 
between 25° and 36° of latitude. The tempera- 
ture of the ocean there is between 608° and 68° ; 
and the north-west winds, which blow sometimes 
with impetuosity, drive floating islands of those 
weeds into low latitudes, as far as the parallels of 
24° and even 20°. Vessels returning to Europe 
from Monte Video, or the Cape of Good Hope, pass 
through this marine meadow, which the Spanish 
pilots consider as lying half-way between the West- 
Indies and the Canaries. The other section is not so 
well known, and occupies a smaller space between 
lat. 22° and 26° of N., two hundred and seventy-six 
miles eastward of the Bahama Islands. 

Although a species of seaweed, the Laminaria py- 
rifera of Lamouroux, has been observed with stems 
850 feet in length, and although the growth of these 
plants is exceedingly rapid, it is yet certain that in 
those seas the fuci are not fixed to the bottom, but 
float in detached parcels at the surface. In this state 
vegetation, it is obvious, cannot continue longer than 
in the branch of a tree separated from the trunk ; 
and it may therefore be supposed, that floating masses 
of these weeds occurring for ages in the same posi- 
tion owe their origin to submarine rocks, which con- 
tinually supply what has been carried off by the equi- 
noctial currents. But the causes by which these 
plants are detached are not yet sufficiently known,, 
although the author just named has shown that fuci 



FLYING-FISH. 57 

in general separate with great facility after the pe- 
riod of fructification. 

Beyond 22° of latitude they found the surface of 
the sea covered with flying-fish (Exocetus volitans), 
which sprung into the air to a height of twelve, fifteen, 
and even eighteen feet, and sometimes fell on the deck. 
The great size of the swimming-bladder in these 
animals, being two-thirds the length of their body, 
as well as that of the pectoral fins, enable them to 
traverse in the air a space of twenty-four feet hori- 
zontal distance before falling again into the water. 
They are incessantly pursued by dolphins while un- 
der the surface, and when flying are attacked by 
frigate-birds and other predatory species. Yet it 
does not seem that they leap into the atmosphere 
merely to avoid their enemies ; for, like swallows, 
they move by thousands in a right line, and always 
in a direction opposite to that of the waves. The 
air contained in the swimming-bladder had been 
supposed to be pure oxygen ; but Humboldt found it 
to consist of ninety- four parts of azote, four of oxy- 
gen, and two of carbonic acid. 

On the 1st July they met with the wreck of a 
vessel, and on the 3d and 4th crossed that part of the 
ocean where the charts indicate the bank of the ]\Iaal- 
Stroom, which, however, is of very doubtful existence. 
As they approached this imaginary whirlpool they 
observed no other motion in the waters than that 
produced by a current bearing to the north-west. 

From the time when they entered the torrid zone 
(the 27th June) they never ceased to admire the 
nocturnal beauty of the southern sky, which gradu- 
ally disclosed new constellations to their view. " One 
experiences an indescribable sensation," says Hum- 



58 CONSTELLATIONS. 

boldt, "when,, as he approaches the equator., and es- 
pecially in passing from the one hemisphere to the 
other, he sees the stars with which he has been fa- 
miliar from infancy gradually approach the horizon 
and finally disappear. Nothing impresses more vi- 
vidly on the mind of the traveller the vast distance 
to which he has been removed from his native coun- 
try than the sight of a new firmament. The group- 
ing of the larger stars, the scattered nebulae rivalling 
in lustre the milky- way, and spaces remarkable for 
their extreme darkness, give the southern heavens a 
peculiar aspect. The sight even strikes the imagi- 
nation of those who, although ignorant of astronomy, 
find pleasure in contemplating the celestial vault, 
as one admires a fine landscape or a majestic site. 
Without being a botanist, the traveller knows the 
torrid zone by the mere sight of its vegetation ; and 
without the possession of astronomical knowledge 
perceives that he is not in Europe, when he sees 
rising in the horizon the great constellation of the 
Ship, or the phosphorescent clouds of Magellan. 
In the equinoctial regions, the earth, the sky, and 
all their garniture, assume an exotic character/' 

The intertropical seas being usually smooth, and 
the vessel being impelled by the gentle breezes of 
the trade- wind, the passage from the Cape Verd 
Islands to Cumana was as pleasant as could be de- 
sired ; but as they approached the West Indies a 
malignant fever disclosed itself on board. The ship 
was very much encumbered between decks, and 
from the time they passed the tropic the thermo- 
meter stood from 93° to 96-8°. Two sailors, seve- 
ral passengers, two negroes from the coast of Guinea, 
and a mulatto child, were attacked. An ignorant 



MALIGNANT FEVER ON BOARD. 59 

Galician surgeon ordered bleedings, to obviate the 
" heat and corruption of the blood ;" but little exer- 
tion had been made in attempting to diminish the 
danger of infection, and there was not an ounce of 
bark on board. A sailor, who had been on the point 
of expiring, recovered his health in a singular man- 
ner, His hammock having been so hung that the 
sacrament could not be administered to him, he was 
removed to an airy place near the hatchway, and left 
there, his death being expected every moment. The 
transition from a hot and stagnant to a fresher and 
purer atmosphere gradually restored him, and his 
recovery furnished the doctor with an additional 
proof of the necessity of bleeding and evacuation, — a 
treatment of which the fatal effects soon became per- 
ceptible. 

On the 13th, early in the morning, very high land 
was seen. The wind blew hard, the sea was rough, 
large drops of rain fell at intervals, and there was 
every appearance of stormy weather. Considerable 
doubt existed as to the latitude and longitude, which 
was, however, removed by observations made by our 
travellers, and the appearance of the island of Toba- 
go. This little island is a heap of rocks, the dazzling 
whiteness of which forms an agreeable contrast with 
the verdure of the scattered tufts of trees upon it. 
The mountains are crowned with very tall opuntise, 
which alone are enough to apprize the navigator that 
he has arrived on an American coast. 

After doubling the north cape of Tobago and the 
point of St Giles, they discovered from the mast-head 
what they regarded as a hostile squadron ; which, 
however, turned out to be only a group of rocks. 
Crossing the shoal which joins the former island to 



60 MALIGNANT FEVER. 

Grenada, they found that, although the colour of 
the sea was not visibly changed, the thermometer in- 
dicated a temperature several degrees lower than that 
of the neighbouring parts. The wind diminished 
after sunset, and the clouds dispersed as the moon 
reached the zenith. Numerous falling-stars were 
seen on this and the following nights. 

On the 14th, at sunrise, they were in sight of the 
Eocca del Drago, and distinguished the island of 
Chacachacarreo. When 17 miles distant from the 
coast, they experienced, near Punta de la Baca, the 
effect of a current which drew the ship southward. 
Heaving the lead, they found from 230 to 275 feet, 
with a bottom of very fine green clay, — a depth much 
less than, according to Dampier's rule, might have 
been expected in the vicinity of a shore formed of 
very elevated and perpendicular mountains. 

The disease which had broken out on board the 
Pizarro made rapid progress from the time they ap- 
proached the coast. The thermometer kept steady 
at night between 71*6° and 73 4°, and during the day 
rose to between 75 2° and 80*6°. The determina- 
tion to the head, the extreme dryness of the skin, 
the prostration of strength, and all the other symp- 
toms became more alarming ; but it was hoped that 
the sick would recover as soon they were landed 
on the island of St Margaret or at the port of Cu- 
mana, both celebrated for their great salubrity. This 
hope, however, was not entirely realized," for one of 
the passengers fell a victim to the distemper. He was 
an Asturian, nineteen years of age, the only son of 
a poor widow. Various circumstances combined to 
render the death of this young man affecting. He 
was of an exceedingly gentle disposition, bore the 



MALIGNANT FEVER. 61 

marks of great sensibility, and had left his native 
land against his inclination., with the view of earn- 
ing an independence and assisting his reluctant mo- 
ther, under the protection of a rich relation, who re- 
sided in the island of Cuba. From the commence- 
ment of his illness he had fallen into a lethargic 
state, interrupted by accessions of delirium, and on 
the third day expired. Another Asturian, who was 
still younger, did not leave the bed of his dying 
friend for a moment, and yet escaped the disease. 
He had intended to accompany his countryman to 
Cuba, to be introduced by him to the house of his 
relative, on whom all their hopes rested ; and it was 
distressing to see his deep sorrow, and to hear him 
curse the fatal counsels which had thrown him into 
a foreign climate, where he found himself alone and 
destitute. 

Ci We were assembled on the deck," says our elo- 
quent author, " absorbed in melancholy reflections. 
It was no longer doubtful that the fever which pre- 
vailed on board had of late assumed a fatal charac- 
ter. Our eyes were fixed on a mountainous and 
desert coast, on which the moon shone at intervals 
through the clouds. The sea, gently agitated, glowed 
with a feeble phosphoric light. No sound came on 
the ear save the monotonous cry of seme large sea- 
birds that seemed to be seeking the shore. A deep 
calm reigned in these solitary places ; but this calm 
of external nature accorded ill with the painful feel- 
ings which agitated us. About eight the death-bell 
was slowly tolled. At this doleful signal the sailors 
ceased from their work, and threw themselves on 
their knees to offer up a short prayer ; an affecting 
ceremony, which, while it recalls the times when the 
primitive Christians considered themselves as mem- 



62 MALIGNANT FEVER. 

bers of the same family,, seems to unite men by the 
feeling of a common evil. In the course of the night 
the body of the Asturian was brought upon deck, 
and the priest prevailed upon them not to throw it 
into the sea until after sunrise, in order that he might 
render to it the last rites, in conformity to the prac- 
tice of the Romish church. There was not an indi- 
vidual on board who did not feel for the fate of this 
young man, whom we had seen a few days before 
full of cheerfulness and health." 

The passengers who had not been affected by the 
disease resolved to leave the ship at the first place 
where she should touch, and there wait the arrival 
of another packet to convey them to Cuba and 
Mexico. Our travellers also thought it prudent to 
land at Cumana, more especially as they wished not 
to visit New Spain until they had remained for some 
time on the coasts of Venezuela and Paria, and 
examined the beautiful plants of which Bosc and 
Bredemeyer collected specimens on their voyage to 
Terra Firma, and which Humboldt had seen in the 
gardens of Schonbrunn and Vienna. This resolution 
had a happy influence upon the direction of their jour- 
ney, as will subsequently be seen, and perhaps was 
the occasion of securing for them the health which 
they enjoyed during a long residence in the equi- 
noctial regions. They were by this means fortunate 
enough to pass the time when a European recently 
landed runs the greatest danger of being affected by 
the yellow fever, in the hot but very dry climate of 
Cumana, a city celebrated for its salubrity. 

As the coast of Paria stretches to the west, in 
the form of perpendicular cliffs of no great height, 
they were long without perceiving the bold shores 
of the island of St Margaret, where they intended 



COAST OF NEW ANDALUSIA. 63 

to stop for the purpose of obtaining information re- 
specting the English cruisers. Toward eleven in 
the morning of the 15th,, they observed a very low 
islet covered with sand, and destitute of any trace 
of culture or habitation. Cactuses rose here and 
there from a scanty soil which seemed to have an 
undulating motion, in consequence of the extra- 
ordinary refraction the solar rays undergo in pass- 
ing through the stratum of air in contact with a 
strongly-heated surface. The deserts and sandy shores 
of all countries present this appearance. The aspect 
of this place not corresponding with the ideas which 
they had formed of the island of Margaretta, and 
the greatest perplexity existing as to their position 
and course, they cast anchor in shallow water, and 
were visited by some Guayquerias in two canoes, 
constructed each of the single trunk of a tree. These 
Indians, who were of a coppery colour and very tall, 
informed them that they had kept too far south, 
that the low islet near which they were at anchor 
was the island of Coche, and that Spanish vessels 
coming from Europe usually passed to the north- 
ward of it. The master of one of the canoes offered 
to remain on board as coasting pilot, and towards 
evening the captain set sail. 

On the 16th they beheld a verdant coast of pic- 
turesque appearance ; the mountains of New An- 
dalusia bounded the southern horizon, and the city 
of Cumana and its castle appeared among groups 
of trees. They anchored in the port about nine 
in the morning, when the sick crawled on deck to 
enjoy the sight. The river was bordered with co- 
coa-trees more than sixty feet high, — the plain was 
covered with tufts of cassias, capers, and arbores- 
cent mimosas, while the pinnated leaves of the 



64 TEMPERATURE DURING THE VOYAGE. 

palms were conspicuous on the azure of a sky un- 
sullied by the least trace of vapour. A dazzling 
light was spread along the white hills clothed with 
cylindrical cactuses, and over the smooth sea, the 
shores of which were peopled by pelicans, egrets, 
and flamingoes. Every thing announced the mag- 
nificence of nature in the equinoctial regions. 

Before accompanying our learned friends to the 
city of Cumana, we may here take a glance of the 
physical observations made by them during the 
voyage, and which refer to the temperature of the 
air and sea, and other subjects of general interest. 

Temperature of the Air. — In the basin of the 
northern Atlantic Ocean, between the coasts of Eu- 
rope, Africa, and America, the temperature of the 
atmosphere exhibits a very slow increase. From 
Corunna to the Canary Islands, the thermometer, 
observed at noon and in the shade, gradually rose 
from 50° to 64°, and from Teneriffe to Cumana from 
64° to 77°- The maximum of heat observed during 
the voyage did not exceed 79'9°. 

The extreme slowness with which the tempera- 
ture increases during a voyage from Spain to South 
America is highly favourable to the health of Eu- 
ropeans, as it gradually prepares them for the in- 
tense heat which they have to experience. It is in 
a great measure attributable to the evaporation of 
the water, augmented by the motion of the air and 
waves, together with the property possessed by trans- 
parent liquids of absorbing very little light at their 
surface. On comparing the numerous observations 
made by navigators, we are surprised to see that 
in the torrid zone, in either hemisphere, they have 
not found the thermometer to rise in the open sea 
above 93° ; while in corresponding latitudes on the 



TEMPERATURE OF THE SEA. 65 

continents of Asia and Africa, it attains a much 
greater elevation. The difference between the tem- 
perature of the day and night is also less than on 
land. 

Temperature of the Sea. — From Corunna to the 
mouth of the Tagus, the temperature of the sea 
varied little (between 59° and 60*8°) ; but from lat. 
39° to 10° N., the increase was rapid and generally 
uniform (from 59° to 78*4°), although inequalities 
occurred, probably caused by currents. It is very 
remarkable that there is a great uniformity in the 
maximum of heat every where in the equinoctial 
waters. This maximum, which varies from 82° to 
842°, proves that the ocean is in general warmer 
than the atmosphere in direct contact with it, and 
of which the mean temperature near the equator is 
from 78-8° to 80-6°. 

Hygrometrical State of the Air. — During the 
whole of the voyage, the apparent humidity of the 
atmosphere indicated by the hygrometer underwent 
a sensible increase. In July, in lat. 13° and 14° N., 
Saussure's hygrometer marked at sea from 88° to 
92°, in perfectly clear weather, the thermometer 
being at 75*2°. On the banks of the Lake of Geneva 
the mean humidity of the same month is only 80°, 
the average heat being 662°. On reducing these 
observations to a uniform temperature, we find that 
the real humidity in the equinoctial basin of the 
Atlantic Ocean is to that of the summer months 
at Geneva as 12 to 7- This astonishing degree of 
moisture in the air accounts to a great extent for 
the vigorous vegetation which presents itself on the 
coasts of South America, where so little rain falls 
throughout the year. 



66 COLOUR OF THE SKY. 

Intensity of the Colour of the Sky and Ocean. — 
From the coasts of Spain and Africa to those of 
South America, the azure colour of the sky in- 
creased from 13° to 23° of Saussure's cyanometer. 
From the 8th to the 12th of July, in lat. 12^° 
and 14° N., the sky, although free of vapour, was of 
an extraordinary paleness, the instrument indicat- 
ing only 16° or 17°, although on the preceding days 
it had been at 22°. The tint of the sky is general- 
ly deeper in the torrid zone than in high latitudes, 
and in the same parallel it is fainter at sea than on 
land. The latter circumstance may be attributed 
to the quantity of aqueous vapour which is con- 
tinually rising towards the higher regions of the 
air from the surface of the sea. From the zenith to 
the horizon, there is in all latitudes a diminution of 
intensity, which follows nearly an arithmetical pro- 
gression, and depends upon the moisture suspended 
in the atmosphere. If the cyanometer indicate this 
accumulation of vapour in the more elevated por- 
tion of the air, the seaman possesses a simpler me- 
thod of judging of the state of its lower regions, by 
observing the colour and figure of the solar disk at 
its rising and setting. In the torrid zone, where 
meteorological phenomena follow each other with 
great regularity, the prognostics are more to be de- 
pended upon than in northern regions. Great pale- 
ness of the setting sun, and an extraordinary dis- 
figuration of its disk, almost certainly presage a 
storm ; and yet one can hardly conceive how the 
condition of the lower strata of the air, which is 
announced in this manner, can be so intimately 
connected with those atmospherical changes that 
take place within the space of a few hours. 



COLOUR OF THE OCEAN. 07 

Mariners are accustomed to observe the appear- 
ances of the sky more carefully than landsmen, and 
among the numerous meteorological rules which 
pilots transmit to each other, several evince great sa- 
gacity. Prognostics are also in general less uncer- 
tain on the ocean, and especially in the equinoctial 
parts of it, than on land, where the inequalities of 
the ground interrupt the regularity of their mani- 
festation. 

Humboldt also applied the cyanometer to mea- 
sure the colour of the sea. In fine calm weather, 
the tint was found to be equal to 33°, 38°, some- 
times even 44° of the instrument, although the 
sky was very pale, and scarcely attained 14° or 
15°. When, instead of directing the apparatus 
to a great extent of open sea, the observer fixes 
his eyes on a small part of its surface viewed 
through a narrow aperture, the water appears of a 
rich ultramarine colour. Towards evening again, 
when the edge of the waves, as the sun shines 
upon them, is of an emerald-green, the surface of 
the shaded side reflects a purple hue. Nothing 
is more striking than the rapid changes which 
the colour of the sea undergoes under a clear sky, 
in the midst of the ocean and in deep water, when 
it may be seen passing from indigo-blue to the 
deepest green, and from this to slate-gray. The 
blue is almost independent of the reflection of the 
atmosphere. The intertropical seas are in general 
of a deeper and purer tint than in high latitudes, and 
the ocean often remains blue, when, in fine weather, 
more than four-fifths of the sky are covered with 
light and scattered clouds of a white colour. 



68 LANDING AT CUMANA. 



CHAPTER V. 

Cumana. 

Landing at Cumana — Introduction to the Governor — State of the 
Sick — Description of the Country and City of Cumana — Mode of 
Bathing in the Manzanares — Port of Cumana — Earthquakes ; 
Their Periodicity; Connexion with the State of the Atmosphere; 
Gaseous Emanations ; Subterranean Noises ; Propagation of 
Shocks ; Connexion between those of Cumana and the West In- 
dies ; and General Phenomena. 

The city of Cumana,, the capital of New Andalusia, 
is a mile distant from the landing-place, and in 
proceeding towards it our travellers crossed a large 
sandy plain, which separates the suburb inhabited 
by the Guayqueria Indians from the seashore. The 
excessive heat of the atmosphere was increased by 
the reflection of the sun's rays from a naked soil, 
the thermometer immersed in which rose to 99*9°. 
In the little pools of salt water it remained at 86*9°, 
while the surface of the sea in the port generally 
ranges from 77'4° to 793°. The first plant gathered 
by them was the Avicennia tomentosa, which is re- 
markable for occurring also on the Malabar coast, 
and belongs to the small number that live in so- 
ciety, like the heaths of Europe, and are seen in the 
torrid zone only on the shores of the ocean and the 
elevated platforms of the Andes. 

Crossing the Indian suburb, the streets of which 
were very neat, they were conducted by the captain 



INTRODUCTION TO THE GOVERNOR. 69 

of the Pizarro to the governor of the province, Don 
Vicente Emparan, who received them with frank- 
ness; expressed his satisfaction at the resolution 
which they had taken of remaining for some time 
in New Andalusia ; showed them cottons dyed with 
native plants and furniture made of indigenous 
wood ; and surprised them with questions indicative 
of scientific attainments. On disembarking their 
instruments, they had the pleasure of finding that 
none of them had been damaged. They hired a 
spacious house in a situation favourable for astrono- 
mical observations, in which they enjoyed an agree- 
able coolness when the breeze arose, the windows 
being without glass, or even the paper panes which 
are often substituted for it at Cumana. 

The passengers all left the vessel. Those who 
had been attacked by the fever recovered so very 
slowly, that some were seen a month after, who, 
notwithstanding the care bestowed upon them by 
their countrymen, were still in a state of extreme 
debility. The hospitality of the inhabitants of the 
Spanish colonies is such that the poorest stranger is 
sure of receiving the kindest treatment. Among 
the sick landed here was a negro, who soon fell into 
a state of insanity and died ; which fact our author 
mentions, as a proof that persons born in the torrid 
zone are liable to suffer from the heat of the tropics 
after having resided in temperate climates. This 
individual, who was a robust young man, was a na- 
tive of Guinea, but had lived for some years on the 
elevated plain of Castile. 

The soil around Cumana is composed of gypsum 
and calcareous breccia, and is supposed at a remote 
period to have been covered by the sea. The neigh- 



70 CITY OF CUMANA. 

bourhood of the city is remarkable for the woods of 
cactus which are spread over the arid lands. Some 
of these plants were thirty or forty feet high, covered 
with lichens, and divided into branches in the form 
of a candelabrum. When the large species grow in 
groups they form a thicket which, while it is almost 
impenetrable, is extremely dangerous on account of 
the poisonous serpents that frequent it. 

The fortress of St Antonio, which is built on a 
calcareous hill, commands the town and forms a 
picturesque object to vessels entering the port. On 
the south-western slope of the same rock are the 
ruins of the castle of St Mary, from the site of which 
there is a fine view of the Gulf, together with the 
island of Margaretta and the small isles of Caraccas, 
Picuita, and Boracha, which present the most sin- 
gular appearances from the effect of mirage. 

The city of Cumana, properly speaking, occupies 
the ground that lies between the castle of St Anto- 
nio and the small rivers Manzanares and Santa 
Catalina. It has no remarkable buildings, on ac- 
count of the violent earthquakes to which it is sub- 
ject. The suburbs are almost as populous as the 
town itself, and are three in number : namely, Ser- 
ritos, St Francis, and that of the Guayquerias. The 
latter is inhabited by a tribe of civilized Indians, 
who, for upwards of a century, have adopted the 
Castilian language. The whole population in 1802 
was about eighteen or nineteen thousand. 

The plains which surround the city have a parch- 
ed and dusty aspect. The hill on which the fort 
of St Antonio stands is also bare, and composed of 
calcareous breccia, containing marine shells. South- 
ward, in the distance, is a vast curtain of inacces- 



BATHING IN THE RIVER. Jl 

sible mountains,, also of limestone. These ridges 
are covered by majestic forests, extending along the 
sloping ground at their base to an open plain in the 
neighbourhood of Cum ana, through which the river 
Manzanares winds its way to the sea, fringed with 
mimosas, erythrinas, ceibas, and other trees of gi- 
gantic growth. 

This river, the temperature of which in the sea- 
son of the floods descends as low as 71*6°, when that 
of the air is as high as 91°, is an inestimable bene- 
fit to the inhabitants; all of whom, even the women 
of the most opulent families, learn to swim. The 
mode of bathing is various. Our travellers frequent- 
ed every evening a very respectable society in the 
suburb of the Guayquerias. In the beautiful moon- 
light chairs w r ere placed in the water, on which were 
seated the ladies and gentlemen, lightly clothed. 
The family and the strangers passed several hours 
in the river, smoking cigars and chatting on the 
usual subjects of conversation, such as the extreme 
drought, the abundance of rain in the neighbouring 
districts, and the female luxury which prevails in 
Caraccas and Havannah. The company were not 
disturbed by the bavas, or small crocodiles, which 
are only three or four feet long, and are now ex- 
tremely rare. Humboldt and his companions did 
not meet with any of them in the Manzanares; 
but they saw plenty of dolphins, which some- 
times ascended the river at night, and fright- 
ened the bathers by spouting water from their 
nostrils. 

The port of Cumana is capable of receiving all 
the navies of Europe ; and the whole of the Gulf of 
Cariaco, which is forty-two miles long and from seven 



72 EARTHQUAKES. 

to nine miles broad, affords excellent anchorage. 
The hurricanes of the West Indies are never expe- 
rienced on these coasts, where the sea is constantly 
smooth., or only slightly agitated by an easterly wind. 
The sky is often bright along the shores, while stormy 
clouds are seen to gather among the mountains. 
Thus, as at the foot of the Andes, on the western 
side of the continent, the extremes of clear weather 
and fogs, of drought and heavy rain, of absolute 
nakedness and perpetual verdure, present them- 
selves on the coasts of New Andalusia. 

The same analogy exists as to earthquakes, which 
are frequent and violent at Cumana. It is a gene- 
rally-received opinion that the Gulf of Cariaco owed 
its existence to a rent of the continent, the remem- 
brance of which was fresh in the minds of the na- 
tives at the time of Columbus' third voyage. In 
1530, the coasts of Paria and Cumana were agitated 
by shocks; and towards the end of the sixteenth 
century, earthquakes and inundations very often 
occurred. On the 21st October 1766, the city of 
Cumana was entirely destroyed in the space of a 
few minutes. The earth opened in several parts 
of the province, and emitted sulphureous waters. 
During the years 1766 and 1767; the inhabitants 
encamped in the streets, and they did not begin 
to rebuild their houses until the earthquakes took 
place only once in four weeks. These commotions 
had been preceded by a drought of fifteen months, 
and were accompanied and followed by torrents of 
rain which swelled the rivers. 

On the 14th December 1797^ more than four- 
fifths of the city were again entirely destroyed. 
Previous to this, the shocks had been horizontal 



GENERAL REMARKS ON EARTHQUAKES. 73 

oscillations; but the shaking now felt was that of 
an elevation of the ground, and was attended by a 
subterraneous noise, like the explosion of a mine at 
a great depth. The most violent concussion, however, 
was preceded by a slight undulating motion, so that 
the inhabitants had time to escape into the streets ; 
and only a few perished, who had betaken them- 
selves for safety to the churches. Half an hour be- 
fore the catastrophe, a strong smell of sulphur was 
experienced near the hill of the convent of St Fran- 
cis ; and on the same spot an internal noise, which 
seemed to pass from S.E. to N.W., was heard loud- 
est. Flames appeared on the banks of the Man- 
zanares and in the Gulf of Cariaco. In describing 
this frightful convulsion of nature, our author en- 
ters upon general views respecting earthquakes, of 
which a very brief account may be here given. 

The great earthquakes which interrupt the long 
series of small shocks, do not appear to have any 
stated times at Cumana, as they have occurred at 
intervals of eighty, of a hundred, and sometimes 
even of less than thirty years ; whereas, on the coasts 
of Peru, — at Lima, for example, — there is, without 
doubt, a certain degree of regularity in the periodi- 
cal devastations thereby occasioned. 

It has long been believed at Cumana, Acapulco, 
and Lima, that there exists a perceptible relation 
between earthquakes and the state of the atmosphere 
which precedes these phenomena. On the coasts of 
New Andalusia the people become uneasy when, in 
excessively hot weather and after long drought, the 
breeze suddenly ceases, and the sky, clear at the 
zenith, presents the appearance of a reddish vapour 
near the horizon. But these prognostics are very 



74 EARTHQUAKES. 

uncertain, and the dreaded evil has arrived in all 
kinds of weather. 

Under the tropics the regularity of the horary 
variations of the barometer is not disturbed on the 
days when violent shocks occur. In like manner, 
in the temperate zone the aurora borealis does not 
always modify the variations of the needle, or the 
intensity of the magnetic forces. 

When the earth is opened and agitated, gaseous 
emanations occasionally escape in places consider- 
ably remote from unextinguished volcanoes. At 
Cumana, flames and sulphureous vapours spring 
from the arid soil, while in other parts of the same 
province it throws out water and petroleum. At 
Riobamba, a muddy inflammable mass called moya 
issues from crevices which close again, and forms 
elevated heaps. Flames and smoke were also seen 
to proceed from the rocks of Alvidras, near Lisbon, 
during the earthquake of 1755, by which that city 
was ravaged. But in the greater number of earth- 
quakes it is probable that no elastic fluids escape 
from the ground, and when gases are evolved, they 
more frequently accompany or follow than precede 
the shocks. 

The subterranean noise which so frequently at- 
tends earthquakes, is generally not proportionate to 
the strength of the shocks. At Cumana it always 
precedes them, while at Quito, and for some time 
past at Caraccas and in the West India Islands, a 
noise like the discharge of a battery was heard long 
after the agitation had ceased. The rolling of thun- 
der in the bowels of the earth, which continues for 
months, without being accompanied by the least 
shaking, is a very remarkable phenomenon. 



EARTHQUAKES. 7^ 

In all countries subject to earthquakes the point 
at which the effects are greatest is considered as the 
source or focus of the shocks. We forget that the 
rapidity with which the undulations are propagated 
to great distances, even across the basin of the 
ocean, proves the centre of action to be very remote 
from the earth's surface. Hence it is clear that earth- 
quakes are not restricted to certain species of rocks, 
as some naturalists assert, but pervade all ; although 
sometimes, in the same rock, the upper strata seem 
to form an insuperable obstacle to the propagation 
of the motion. It is curious also, that in a district 
of small extent, certain formations interrupt the 
shocks. Thus, at Cumana, before the catastrophe 
of 1797; the earthquakes were felt only along the 
southern or calcareous coast of the Gulf of Caria- 
co, as far as the town of that name, while in the 
peninsula of Araya, and at the village of Maniqua- 
rez, the ground was not agitated. At present, how- 
ever, the peninsula is as liable to earthquakes as 
the district around Cumana. 

In New Andalusia, as in Chili and Peru, the 
shocks follow the line of the shore, and extend but 
little into the interior, — a circumstance which in- 
dicates an intimate connexion between the causes 
that produce earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. 
If the land along the coasts is most agitated because 
it is generally lowest, why should not the shocks 
be equally strong in the savannahs, which are only 
a few yards above the level of the sea ? 

The earthquakes of Cumana are connected with 
those of the West Indies, and are even suspected to 
have some relation to the volcanic phenomena of 
the Andes. On the 4th November 1797, the 



76 EARTHQUAKES. 

province of Quito underwent so violent a com- 
motion that 40,000 persons were destroyed ; and at 
the same period shocks were experienced in the 
Eastern Antilles, followed by an eruption of the 
volcano of Guadaloupe, in the end of September 
1798. On the 14th December the great concussion 
took place at Cumana. 

It has long been remarked that earthquakes ex- 
tend their effects to much greater distances than 
volcanoes ; and it is probable, as has just been men- 
tioned, that the causes which produce the former 
have an intimate connexion with the latter. When 
seated within the verge of a burning crater, one feels 
the motion of the ground several seconds before each 
partial eruption. The phenomena of earthquakes 
seem strongly to indicate the action of elastic fluids 
endeavouring to force their way into the atmo- 
sphere. On the shores of the South Sea the concus- 
sion is almost instantaneously communicated from 
Chili to the Gulf of Guayaquil, over a space of 2070 
miles. The shocks also appear to be so much the 
stronger the more distant the country is from active 
volcanoes; and a province is more agitated, the 
smaller the number of funnels by which the sub- 
terranean cavities communicate with the open air. 






LUNAR HALOES. 77 



CHAPTER VI. 

Residence at Cumana. 

Lunar Halo— African Slaves— Excursion to the Peninsula of Araya 
— Geological Constitution of the Country — Salt-works of Araya 
— Indians and Mulattoes — Pearl-fishery — Maniquarez — Mexi- 
can Deer — Spring of Naphtha, 

The occupations of our travellers were much dis- 
turbed during the first weeks of their abode at Cu- 
mana by the intrusion of persons desirous of exa- 
mining their astronomical and other instruments. 
They however determined the latitude of the great 
square to be 10° 27' 52", and its longitude 66° 30' 2". 
On the 17th of August, a halo of the moon attract- 
ed the attention of the inhabitants, who viewed it 
as the presage of a violent earthquake. Coloured 
circles of this kind, Humboldt remarks, are much 
rarer in the northern than in the southern countries 
of Europe. They are seen more especially when 
the sky is clear and the weather settled. In the 
torrid zone they appear almost every night, and 
often in the space of a few minutes disappear se- 
veral times. Between the latitude of 15° N. and 
the equator he has seen small haloes around the 
planet Venus, but never observed any in connexion 
with the fixed stars. While the halo was seen 
at Cumana, the hygrometer indicated great humi- 
dity, although the atmosphere was perfectly trans- 



78 AFRICAN SLAVES. 

parent. It consisted of two circles ; a larger, of a 
whitish colour, and 44° in diameter, and a smaller, 
displaying all the tints of the rainbow, and 1° 43' 
in diameter. The intermediate space was of the 
deepest azure. 

Part of the great square is surrounded with ar- 
cades, over which is a long wooden gallery, where 
slaves imported from the coast of Africa are sold. 
These were young men from fifteen to twenty 
years of age. Every morning cocoa-nut oil was 
given them, with which they rubbed their skin, to 
render it glossy. The persons who came to pur- 
chase them examined their teeth, as we do those of 
horses, to judge of their age and health. Yet the 
Spanish laws, according to our author, have never 
favoured the trade in African slaves, the number of 
whom in 1800 did not exceed 6000 in the two pro- 
vinces of Cumana and Barcelona, while the whole 
population was estimated at 110,000. 

The first excursion which our travellers made 
was to the peninsula of Araya. They embarked on 
the Manzanares, near the Indian suburb, about two 
in the morning of the 19th August. The night 
was delightfully cool. Swarms of shining insects 
(Elater noctilucus) sparkled in the air along the 
banks of the river. As the boat descended the 
stream they observed a company of negroes dancing 
to the music of the guitar by the light of bonfires, — 
a practice which they prefer to mere relaxation or 
sleep, on their days of rest. 

The bark in which they passed the Gulf of Cari- 
aco was commodious, and large skins of the jaguar 
were spread for their repose during the night. The 
cold, however, prevented them from sleeping, al- 



EXCURSION TO ARAYA. 79 

though, as they were surprised to find, the thermo- 
meter was as high as 71*2°. The circumstance that 
in a warm country a degree of cold which would be 
productive of no inconvenience to the inhabitant 
of a temperate climate,, excites a disagreeable feel- 
ing, is worthy of the attention of physiologists. 
When Bouguer reached the summit of Pelee, in 
the island of Martinico, he trembled with cold, al- 
though the heat was above 70*7°; and in heavy 
showers at Cumana, when the thermometer indi- 
cates the same temperature, the inhabitants make 
bitter complaints. 

About eight in the morning they landed at the 
point of Araya, near the new salt-works, which are 
situated in a plain destitute of vegetation. From 
this spot are seen the islet of Cubagua, the lofty 
hills of Margaretta, the ruins of the castle of St 
Jago, the Cerro de la Vela, and the limestone ridge 
of the Bergantin, bounding the horizon toward the 
south. Here salt is procured by digging brine-pits 
in the clayey soil, which is impregnated with mu- 
riate of soda. In 1799 and 1800, the consumption 
of this article in the provinces of Cumana and Bar- 
celona amounted to 9000 or 10,000 fanegas, each 
16 arrobas, or 405 § lbs. avoirdupois. Of this quan- 
tity the salt-works of Araya yield only about a 
third part ; the rest being obtained from sea- water 
in the Morro of Barcelona, at Pozuelos, at Piritu, 
and in the Golfo Triste. 

In order to understand the geological relations of 
this saliferous clay, it is necessary to follow our au- 
thor in his exposition of the nature of the neigh- 
bouring country. Three great parallel chains of 
mountains extend from east to west. The two most 



80 PENINSULA OF ARAYA. 

northerly, which are primitive, constitute the Cor- 
dilleras of the island of Margaretta, as well as of 
Araya. The most southerly, the cordillera of Ber- 
gantin and Cocollar, is secondary, although more 
elevated than the others. The two former have 
been separated by the sea, and the islets of Coche 
and Cubagua are supposed to be remnants of the 
submersed land. The Gulf of Cariaco divides the 
chains of Araya and Cocollar, which were connect- 
ed, to the east of the town of Cariaco, between the 
lakes of Campoma and Putaquao, by a kind of dike. 
This barrier, which had the name of Cerro de Mea- 
pire, prevented, in remote times, the waters of the 
Gulf of Cariaco from uniting with those of the Gulf 
of Paria. 

The western slope of the peninsula of Araya, and 
the plains on which rises the castle of St Antony, 
are covered with recent deposites of sandstone, clay, 
and gypsum. Near Manifuarez, a conglomerate with 
calcareous cement rests on the mica-slate ; while on 
the opposite side, near Punta Delgada, it is superim- 
posed on a compact bluish-gray limestone, contain- 
ing a few organic remains, traversed by small veins 
of calcareous spar, and analogous to that of the Alps. 

The saliferous clay is generally of a smoke-gray 
colour, earthy and friable, but encloses masses of 
a dark-brown tint and more solid texture. Sele- 
nite and fibrous gypsum are disseminated in it. 
Scarcely any shells are to be seen, although the ad- 
jacent rocks contain abundance of them. The mu- 
riate of soda is not discoverable by the naked eye ; 
but when a mass is sprinkled with rain-water and 
exposed to the sun, it appears in large crystals. In 
the marsh to the east of the castle of St Jago, which 

5 



SALT-WORKS OF ARAYA. 81 

receives only rain-water, crystallized and very pure 
muriate of soda forms, after great droughts, in masses 
of large size. The new salt-works of Araya have five 
very extensive reservoirs, with a depth of eight inches, 
and are supplied partly with sea- water and partly 
with rain. The evaporation is so rapid, that salt is 
collected in eighteen or twenty days after they are 
filled; and it is freer from earthy muriates and sul- 
phates than that of Europe, although manufactured 
with less care. 

After examining these works, they departed at 
the decline of day, and proceeded toward an Indian 
cabin some miles distant. Night overtook them 
in a narrow path between a range of perpendicular 
rocks and the sea. Arriving at the foot of the old 
castle of Araya, which stands on a bare and arid 
mountain, and is crowned with agave, columnar cac- 
tus, and prickly mimosas, they were desirous of stop- 
ping to admire the majestic spectacle, and observe the 
setting of the planet Venus ; but their guide, who 
was parched with thirst, earnestly urged them to re- 
turn, and hoped to work on their fears by continu- 
ally warning them of jaguars and rattlesnakes. 
They at length yielded to his solicitations ; but, after 
proceeding three-quarters of an hour along a shore 
covered by the tide, they were joined by the negro 
that carried their provisions, who led them through 
a wood of nopals to the hut of an Indian, where they 
were received with cordial hospitality. The several 
classes of natives in this district live by catching fish, 
part of which they carry to Cumana. The wealth 
of the inhabitants consists chiefly of goats, which are 
of a very large size, and brownish-yellow colour. 
They are marked like the mules, and roam at large. 

K 



82 PEARL-FISHERIES. 

Among the mulattoes, whose hovels surrounded 
the salt-lake near which they had passed the night, 
they found an indigent Spanish cobbler, who received 
them with an air of gravity and importance. After 
amusing them with a display of his knowledge, he 
drew from a leathern bag a few very small pearls, 
which he forced them to accept, enjoining them to 
note on their tablets, " that a poor shoemaker of 
Araya, but a white man, and of noble Castilian de- 
scent, was enabled to give them what, on the other 
side of the sea, would be sought for as a thing of 
great value." 

The pearl-shell (Avicula margaritiferd) is abun- 
dant on the shoals which extend from Cape Paria 
to the Cape of Vela. Margarita, Cubagua, Coche, 
Punt a Araya, and the mouth of the Rio la Hacha, 
were as celebrated in the sixteenth century for them, 
as the Persian Gulf was among the ancients. At 
the beginning of the conquest, the island of Coche 
alone furnished 1500 marks (1029 Troy pounds) 
monthly. The portion which the king's officers 
drew from the produce of the pearls amounted to 
£3406, 5s. ; and it would appear, that up to ] 530, 
the value of those sent to Europe amounted, at a 
yearly average, to more than £130,000. Towards 
the end of the sixteenth century, this fishery dimi- 
nished rapidly ; and, according to Laet, had been 
long given up in 1683. The artificial imitations, 
and the great diminution of the shells, rendered it 
less lucrative. At present, the Gulf of Panama and 
the mouth of the Rio de la Hacha are the only parts 
of South America in which this branch of industry 
is continued. 

On the morning of the 20th, a young Indian con- 



GEOLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 83 

ducted the travellers over Barigon and Caney, to 
the village of Maniquarez. The thermometer kept 
as high as 78'5°, and before their guide had travel- 
led a league, he frequently sat down to rest himself, 
and expressed a desire to repose under the shade of a 
tamarind-tree until night should approach. Hum- 
boldt explains the circumstance,, that the natives 
complain more of lassitude under an intense heat 
than Europeans not inured to it, by a reference to 
their listless disposition, and their not being excited 
by the same stimulus. 

In crossing the arid hills of Cape Cirial, they per- 
ceived a strong smell of petroleum, the wind blow- 
ing from the side where the springs of that sub- 
stance occur. Near the village of Maniquarez, they 
found the mica-slate cropping out from below the 
secondary rocks. It was of a silvery white, con- 
tained garnets, and was traversed by small layers 
of quartz. From a detached block of this last, found 
on the shore, they separated a fragment of cyanite, 
the only specimen of that mineral seen by them in 
South America. 

A rude manufacture of pottery is carried on at 
that hamlet by the Indian women. The clay is 
produced by the decomposition of mica-slate, and is 
of a reddish colour. The natives, being unacquaint- 
ed with the use of ovens, place twigs around the 
vessels, and bake them in the open air. 

At the same place they met with some Creoles who 
had been hunting small deer in the uninhabited islet 
of Cubagua, where they are very abundant. These 
creatures are of a brownish-red hue, spotted with 
white, and of the latter colour beneath. They belong 
to the species named by naturalists Cervus Mexican us. 



84 EYE-STONES. 

In the estimation of the natives,, the most curious 
production of the coast of Araya is what they call 
the eye-stone. They consider it as both a stone and 
an animal., and assert^ that when it is found in the 
sand it is motionless ; whereas on a polished surface, 
as an earthen plate,, it moves when stimulated by 
lemon- juice. When introduced into the eye,, it ex- 
pels every other substance that may have accidental- 
ly insinuated itself. The people offered these stones 
to the travellers by hundreds^ and wished to put 
sand into their eyes,, that they might try the power 
of this wondrous remedy; which, however, was no- 
thing else than the operculum of a small shell-fish. 

Near Cape de la Brea, at the distance of eighty 
feet from the shore, is a small stream of naphtha, 
the produce of which covers the sea to a great extent. 
It is a singular circumstance that this spring issues 
from mica-slate, all others that are known belong- 
ing to secondary deposites. 

After examining the neighbourhood of Mani- 
quarez, the adventurers embarked at night in a 
small fishing-boat, so leaky that a person was con- 
stantly employed in baling out the water with a 
calabash, and arrived in safety at Cumana. 



EXCURSION TO SAN FERNANDO. 85 



CHAPTER VII. 

Missions of the Chaymas. 

Excursion to the Missions of the Chayma Indians — Remarks on 
Cultivation — The Impossible — Aspect of the Vegetation — San 
Fernando — Account of a Man who suckled a Child — Cumanacoa 
— Cultivation of Tobacco — Igneous Exhalations — Jaguars — 
Mountain of Cocollar — Turimiquiri — Missions of San Antonio 
and Guanaguana. 

On the 4th of September, at an early hour, our tra- 
vellers commenced an excursion to the missionary 
stations of the Chayma Indians, and to the lofty 
mountains which traverse New Andalusia. The 
morning was deliciously cool ; and from the summit 
of the hill of San Francisco they enjoyed in the short 
twilight an extensive view of the sea, the adjacent 
plain, and the distant peaks. After walking two 
hours they arrived at the foot of the chain, where 
they found different rocks, together with a new 
and more luxuriant vegetation. They observed that 
the latter was more brilliant wherever the limestone 
was covered by a quartzy sandstone, — a circum- 
stance which probably depends not so much on the 
nature of the soil as on its greater humidity ; the 
thin layers of slate-clay which the latter contains pre- 
venting the water from filtering into the crevices of 
the former. In those moist places they always dis- 
covered appearances of cultivation, huts inhabited by 



86 STATE OF CULTIVATION. 

mestizoes, and placed in the centre of small en- 
closures, containing papaws, plantains, sugar-canes, 
and maize. In Europe, the wheat, barley, and other 
kinds of grain, cover vast spaces of ground, and, in 
general, wherever the inhabitants live upon corn, the 
cultivated lands are not separated from each other 
by the intervention of large wastes ; but in the torrid 
zone, where the fertility of the soil is proportionate to 
the heat and humidity of the air, and where man has 
appropriated plants that yield earlier and more abun- 
dant crops, an immense population finds ample sub- 
sistence on a narrow space. The scattered disposi- 
tion of the huts in the midst of the forest indicates 
to the traveller the fecundity of nature. 

In so mild and uniform a climate, the only urgent 
want of man is that of food ; and in the midst of 
abundance, his intellectual faculties receive less im- 
provement than in colder regions, where his necessities 
are numerous and diversified. While in Europe, we 
judge of the inhabitants of a country by the extent 
of laboured ground ; in the warmest parts of South 
America, populous provinces seem to the traveller 
almost deserted, because a very small extent of soil 
is sufficient for the maintenance of a family. The in- 
sulated state in which the natives thus live, prevents 
any rapid progress of civilisation, although it deve- 
lops the sentiments of independence and liberty. 

As the travellers penetrated into the forest, the 
barometer indicated the progressive elevation of the 
land. About three in the afternoon they halted on 
a small flat, where a few houses had been erected 
near a spring, the water of which they found deli- 
cious. Its temperature was 72*5°, while that of the 
air was 83*7°- From the top of a sandstone-hill 



THE IMPOSSIBLE. 87 

in the vicinity, they had a splendid view of the sea 
and part of the coast, while in the intervening space, 
the tops of the trees, intermixed with flowery lianas, 
formed a vast carpet of deep verdure. As they ad- 
vanced toward the south-west, the soil became dry 
and loose. They ascended a group of rather high 
mountains, destitute of vegetation, and having steep 
declivities. This ridge is named the Impossible, it 
being imagined that, in case of invasion, it might 
afford a safe retreat to the inhabitants of Cumana. 
The prospect was finer and more extensive than 
from the fountain above mentioned. 

They arrived on the summit only a little before 
dusk. The setting of the sun was accompanied by a 
very rapid diminution of temperature, the thermo- 
meter suddenly falling from 77*4° to 70'3°, although 
the air was calm. They passed the night in a 
house at which there was a military post of eight 
men, commanded by a Spanish sergeant. When, 
after the capture of Trinidad by the English in 1797; 
Cumana was threatened, many of the people fled 
to Cumanacoa, leaving the more valuable of their 
property in sheds constructed on this ridge. The so- 
litude of the place reminded Humboldt of the nights 
which he had passed on the top of St Gothard. Seve- 
ral parts of the surrounding forests were burning, and 
the reddish flames arising amidst clouds of smoke, 
presented a most impressive spectacle. The shepherds 
set fire to the woods for the purpose of improving 
the pasturage, though conflagrations are often caused 
by the negligence of the wandering Indians. The 
number of old trees on the road from Cumana to Cu- 
manacoa has been greatly reduced by these accidents ; 
and in several parts of the province the dryness has 



OO DESCENT OF THE IMPOSSIBLE. 

increased, owing both to the diminution of the fo- 
rests, and the frequency of earthquakes which pro- 
duce crevices in the soil. 

Leaving the Impossible on the 5th before sunrise, 
they descended by a very narrow path bordering on 
precipices. The summit of the ridge was of quartzy 
sandstone, beneath which the Alpine limestone re- 
appeared. The strata being generally inclined to 
the south, numerous springs gush out on that side, 
and in the rainy season form torrents which fall 
in cascades, shaded by the hura, the cuspa, and the 
trumpet-tree. The cuspa, which is common in the 
neighbourhood of Cumana, had long been used for 
carpenter- work, but has of late attracted notice as a 
powerful tonic or febrifuge. 

Emerging from the ravine which opens at the foot 
of the mountain, they entered a dense forest, tra- 
versed by numerous small rivers, which were easily 
forded. They observed that the leaves of the cecro- 
pia were more or less silvery according as the soil 
was dry or marshy, and specimens occurred in which 
they were entirely green on both sides. The roots 
of these shrubs were concealed beneath tufts of dor- 
stenia, a plant which thrives only in shady and 
moist places. In the midst of the forest they found 
papaws and orange-trees bearing excellent fruit, 
which they conjectured to be the remains of some 
Indian plantations, as in these countries they are 
no more indigenous than the banana, the maize, 
the manioc, and the many other useful plants whose 
native country is unknown, although they have ac- 
companied man in his migrations from the most re- 
mote periods. 

" When a traveller newly arrived from Europe," 



VEGETATION OF NEW ANDALUSIA. 89 

says Humboldt, " penetrates for the first time into 
the forests of South America, nature presents her- 
self to his view in an unexpected aspect; the objects 
by which he is surrounded bear but a faint resem- 
blance to the pictures drawn by celebrated writers 
on the banks of the Mississippi, in Florida, and in 
other temperate regions of the New World. He 
perceives at every step, that he is not upon the verge, 
but in the centre of the torrid zone, — not in one of 
the West India islands, but upon a vast continent, 
where the mountains, the rivers, the mass of vege- 
tation, and every thing else, are gigantic. If he be 
sensible to the beauties of rural scenery, he finds it 
difficult to account to himself for the diversified 
feelings which he experiences : he is unable to de- 
termine what most excites his admiration ; whether 
the solemn silence of the wilderness, or the indivi- 
dual beauty and contrast of the forms, or the vigour 
and freshness of vegetable life that characterize the 
climate of the tropics. It might be said that the 
| earth, overloaded with plants, does not leave them 
room enough for growth. The trunks of the trees 
are every where covered with a thick carpet of ver- 
dure ; and were the orchideae and the plants of the 
genera Piper and Pothos, which grow upon a single 
courbaril or American fig-tree, transferred to the 
ground, they would cover a large space. By this 
singular denseness of vegetation, the forests, like the 
rocks and mountains, enlarge the domain of organic 
nature. The same lianas, which creep along the 
ground, rise to the tops of the trees, and pass from 
the one to the other at a height of more than a 
hundred feet. In consequence of this intermixture 
->f parasitic plants, the botanist is often led to con- 



90 FOREST BIRDS — SAN FERNANDO. 

found the flowers, fruits, and foliage, which belong 
to different species." 

The philosophers walked for some hours under the 
shade of these arches, which scarcely admitted an 
occasional glimpse of the clear blue sky, and for the 
first time admired the pendulous nests of the orioles, 
which mingled their warblings with the cries of the 
parrots and macaws. The latter fly only in pairs, 
while the former are seen in flocks of several hun- 
dreds. At the distance of about a league from the 
village of San Fernando, they issued from the woods, 
and entered an open country, covered with aquatic 
plants from eight to ten feet high ; there being no 
meadows or pastures in the lower parts of the torrid 
zone as in Europe. The road was bordered with a 
kind of bamboo rising more than forty feet. These 
plants, according to Humboldt, are less common in 
America than is usually supposed, although they 
form dense woods in New Grenada and Quito, and 
occur abundantly on the western slope of the Andes. 

They now entered San Fernando, which is situated 
in a narrow plain, and bounded by limestone rocks. 
This was the first missionary station they saw in 
America. The houses of the Chayma Indians were 
built of clay, strengthened by lianas, and the streets 
were straight, and intersected each other at right 
angles. The great square in the centre of the village 
contains the church, the house of the missionary, 
and another, destined for the accommodation of tra- 
vellers, which bears the pompous name of the king's 
house (Casa del Rey). These royal residences occur 
in all the Spanish settlements, and are of the great- 
est benefit in countries where there are no inns. 

They had been recommended to the friars, who 






FRANCISCO LOZANO. 91 

superintend the missions of the Chaymas, by their 
syndic at Cumana, and the superior, a corpulent 
and jolly old capuchin, received them with kind- 
ness. This respectable personage, seated the greater 
part of the day in an arm-chair, complained bitter- 
ly of the indolence of his countrymen. He consi- 
dered the pursuits of the travellers as useless, smiled 
at the sight of their instruments and dried plants, 
and maintained that of all the enjoyments of life, 
without excepting sleep, none could be compared 
with the pleasure of eating good beef. 

This mission was founded about the end of the 
seventeenth century, near the junction of the Man- 
zanares and Lucasperez ; but, in consequence of a 
fire, was removed to its present situation. The num- 
ber of families now amounted to a hundred, and, as 
the head of the establishment observed, the custom 
of marrying at a very early age contributes greatly 
to the rapid increase of population. 

In the village of Arenas, which is inhabited by 
Indians of the same race as those of San Fernando, 
there lived a labourer, Francisco Lozano, who had 
suckled a child. Its mother happening to be sick, 
he took it, and in order to quiet it, pressed it to his 
breast, when the stimulus imparted by the sucking 
j of the child caused a flow of milk. The travel- 
j lers saw the certificate drawn up on the spot to at- 
i test this remarkable fact, of which several eyewit- 
nesses were still living. The man was not at Are- 
nas during their stay at the mission, but afterwards 
visited them at Cumana, accompanied by his son, 
when M. Bonpland examined his breasts, and found 
them wrinkled, like those of women who have nursed. 
He was not an Indian, but a white descended from 



92 CUMANACOA. 

European parents. Alexander Benedictus relates a 
similar case of an inhabitant of Syria, and other au- 
thors have given examples of the same nature. 

Returning towards Cumana, they entered the 
small town of Cumanacoa, situated in a naked and 
almost circular plain, surrounded by lofty moun- 
tains, and containing about two thousand three 
hundred inhabitants. The houses were low and 
slight, and with very few exceptions built of wood. 
The travellers were surprised to find the column of 
mercury in the barometer scarcely 7*3 lines shorter 
than on the coast. The hollow in which the town 
is erected is not more than 665 feet above the 
level of the sea, and only seven leagues from Cu- 
mana ; but the climate is much colder than in the 
latter place, where it scarcely ever rains ; whereas 
at Cumanacoa there are seven months of severe 
weather. It was during the winter season that our 
travellers visited the missions. A dense fog covered 
the sky every night ; the thermometer varied from 
64*8° to 68°; and Deluc's hygrometer indicated 85°. 
At ten in the morning the thermometer did not rise 
above 69*8°, but from noon to three o'clock attained 
the height of from 78*8° to 80-6°. About two, large 
black clouds regularly formed, and poured down 
torrents of rain, accompanied by thunder. At five 
the rain ceased, and the sun reappeared; but at eight 
or nine the fog again commenced. In consequence of 
the humidity, the vegetation, although not very diver- 
sified, is remarkable for its freshness. The soil is high- 
ly fertile ; but the most valuable production of the 
district is tobacco, the cultivation of which in the pro- 
vince of Cumana is nearly confined to this valley. 

Next to the tobacco of Cuba and the Rio Negro, 



TOBACCO MOUNTAINS. 93 

that grown here is the most aromatic. The seed is 
sown in the beginning of September, and the coty- 
ledons appear on the eighth day. The young plants 
are then covered with large leaves to protect them 
from the sun. A month or two after, they are 
transferred to a rich and well-prepared soil, and 
disposed in rows,, three or four feet distant from each 
other. The whole is carefully weeded., and the prin- 
cipal stalk is several times topped., until the leaves 
are mature, when they are gathered. They are then 
suspended by threads of the Agave Americana, and 
their ribs taken out ; after which they are twisted. 
The cultivation of tobacco was a royal monopoly, 
and employed about 1500 persons. Indigo is also 
raised in the valley of Cumanacoa. 

This singular plain appeared to be the bed of an 
ancient lake. The surrounding mountains are all 
precipitous, and the soil contains pebbles and bivalve 
shells. One of the gaps in the range, they were in- 
formed, was inhabited by jaguars, which passed the 
day in caves, and roamed about the plantations at 
night. The preceding year, one of them had de- 
voured a horse belonging to a farm in the neigh- 
bourhood. The groans of the dying animal awoke 
the slaves, who went out armed with lances and 
large knives, with which they despatched the tiger 
after a vigorous resistance. 

From two caverns in this ravine there at times 
issue flames, which illumine the adjacent moun- 
tains, and are seen to a great distance at night. 
The phenomenon was accompanied by a long-con- 
tinued subterraneous noise at the time of the last 
earthquake. A first attempt to penetrate into this 
pass was rendered unsuccessful, by the strength 
of the vegetation and the intertwining of lianas 



94 JAGUARS SEARCH FOR A GOLD MINE. 

and thorny plants ; but the inhabitants becoming 
interested in the researches of the travellers, and 
being desirous to know what the German miner 
thought of the gold ore which they imagined to 
exist in it, cleared a path through the woods. On 
entering the ravine they found traces of jaguars ; 
and the Indians returned for some small dogs, 
upon which they knew these animals would spring 
in preference to attacking a man. The rocks that 
bound it are perpendicular, and what geologists 
term Alpine limestone. The excursion was rendered 
hazardous by the nature of the ground ; but they at 
length reached the pretended gold mine, which was 
merely an excavation in a bed of black marl contain- 
ing iron pyrites, a substance which the guides in- 
sisted was no other than the precious metal. 

They continued to penetrate into the crevice, and 
after undergoing great fatigue, reached a wall of 
rock, which, rising perpendicularly to the height of 
5116 feet, presented two inaccessible caverns inha- 
bited by nocturnal birds. Halting at the foot of one 
of the caves from which flames had been seen to 
issue, they listened to the remarks of the natives 
respecting the probability of an increase in the fre- 
quency of the agitations to which New Andalusia had 
so often been subjected. The cause of the luminous 
exhalations, however, they were unable to ascertain. 

On the 12th they continued their journey to the 
convent of Caripe, the principal station of the Chay- 
ma missions, choosing, instead of the direct road, 
the line of the mountains Cocollar and Turimiquiri. 
At the Hato de Cocollar, a solitary farm situated on 
a small elevated plain, they rested for some time, 
and had the good fortune to enjoy at once a delight- 
ful climate and the hospitality of the proprietor. 



VIEW FROM THE COCOLLAR. 95 

From this elevated point, as far as the eye could 
reach, they saw only naked savannahs, although in 
the neighbouring valleys they found tufts of scattered 
trees, and a profusion of beautiful flowers. The upper 
part of the mountain was destitute of wood, though co- 
vered with gramineous plants, — a circumstance which 
Humboldt -attributes more to the custom of burning 
the forests than to the elevation of the ground, which 
is not sufficient to prevent the growth of trees. 

Their host, Don Mathias Yturburi, a native of Bis- 
cay, had visited the Xew World with an expedition, 
the object of which was to form establishments for pro- 
curing timber for the Spanish navy. But these natives 
of a colder climate were unable to support the fatigue 
of so laborious an occupation, the heat, and the effect 
of noxious vapours. Destructive fevers carried off 
most of the party, when this individual withdrew 
from the coast, and settling on the Cocollar, became 
the undisturbed possessor of five leagues of savannahs, 
among which he enjoyed independence and health. 

" Nothing/' says Humboldt, " can be compared 
to the impression of the majestic tranquillity left on 
the mind by the view of the firmament in this soli- 
tary place. Following with the eye, at evening- 
tide, those meadows which stretch along the horizon, 
and the gently-undulated plain covered with plants, 
we thought we saw in the distance, as in the deserts 
of the Orinoco, the surface of the ocean supporting 
the starry vault of heaven. The tree under which 
we were seated, the luminous insects that vaulted 
in the air, and the constellations which shone in the 
south, seemed to tell us that we were far from our 
native land. In the midst of this exotic nature, 
when the bell of a cow or the lowincr of a bull was 
heard from the bottom of a valley, the remembrance 



96 SIERRA DE LOS TAGERES. 

of our country was suddenly awakened by the sounds. 
They were like distant voices, that came from be- 
yond the ocean, and by the magic of which we were 
transported from the one hemisphere to the other. 
Strange mobility of the human imagination, the 
never- failing source of our enjoyments and griefs \" 

In the cool of the morning, they commenced the 
ascent of Turiraiquiri, the summit of the Cocollar, 
which with the Brigantine forms a mass of moun- 
tains, formerly named by the natives the Sierra de 
los Tageres. They travelled part of the way on 
horses, which are left to roam at large in these 
wilds, though some of them have been trained to the 
saddle. Stopping at a spring which issued from a 
bed of quartzy sandstone, they found its temperature 
to be 69-8°. To the height of 4476 feet, this moun- 
tain, like those in its vicinity, was covered with gra- 
mineous plants. The pastures became less rich in 
proportion to the elevation, and wherever the scatter- 
ed rocks afforded a shade lichens and mosses occur- 
red. The summit is 4521 feet above the level of the 
sea. The view from it was extensive and highly pic- 
turesque : chains of mountains, running from east 
to west, enclosed longitudinal valleys, which were 
intersected at right angles by numberless ravines. 
The distant peninsula of Araya formed a dark streak 
on a glittering sea, and the more distant rocks of 
Cape Macanao rose amidst the waters like an im- 
mense rampart. 

On the 14th of September, they descended the 
Cocollar in the direction of San Antonio, where 
was also a mission. After passing over savannahs 
strewed with blocks of limestone, succeeded by a 
dense forest and two very steep ridges, they came 
to a beautiful valley, about twenty miles in length, 



GUANAGUANA AND SAN ANTONIO. 97 

in which are situated the missions of San Antonio 
and Guanaguana. Stopping at the former only to 
open the barometer and take a few altitudes of the 
sun, they forded the rivers Colorado and Guara- 
piche, and proceeding along a level and narrow road 
covered with thick mud, amid torrents of rain, reach- 
ed in the evening the latter of these stations, where 
they were cordially received by the missionary. 
This village had existed only thirty years on the 
spot which it then occupied, having been transferred 
from a place more to the south. Humboldt re- 
marks, that the facility with which the Indians re- 
move their dwellings is astonishing, there being 
several small towns in South America which have 
thrice changed their situation in less than half a 
century. These compulsory migrations are not un- 
frequently caused by the caprice of an ecclesiastic ; 
and as the houses are constructed of clay, reeds, 
and palm-leaves, a hamlet shifts its position like a 
camp. 

The mission of San Antonio had a small church 
with two towers, built of brick and ornamented 
with Doric columns, the wonder of the country ; but 
that of Guanaguana possessed as yet no place of wor- 
ship, although a spacious house had been built for 
the padre, the terraced roof of which was ornamented 
with numerous chimneys like turrets, and which, 
he informed the travellers, had been erected for no 
other purpose than to remind him of his native 
country. The Indians cultivate cotton. The ma- 
chines by which they separate the wool from the seeds 
are of very simple construction, consisting of wooden 
cylinders of very small diameter, made to revolve 
by a treadle. Maize is the article on which they 

F 



98 VALLEY OP CARIPE. 

principally depend for food ; and when it happens 
to be destroyed by a protracted drought, they be- 
take themselves to the surrounding forests, where 
they find subsistence in succulent plants, cabbage- 
palms, fern-roots, and the produce of various trees. 

Proceeding towards the valley of Caripe, the tra- 
vellers passed a limestone ridge which separates it 
from that of Guanaguana, — an undertaking which 
they found rather difficult, the path being in several 
parts only fourteen or fifteen inches broad, and the 
slopes being covered with very slippery turf. When 
they had reached the summit, an interesting spec- 
tacle presented itself to their view, consisting of the 
vast savannahs of Maturin and Rio Tigre, the Peak 
of Turimiquiri, and a multitude of parallel hills 
resembling the waves of a troubled ocean. 

Descending the height by a winding path, they 
entered a woody country, where the ground w r as 
covered by moss and a species of Drosera. As they 
approached the convent of Caripe, the forests grew 
more dense, and the power of vegetation increased. 
The calcareous strata became thinner, forming gra- 
duated terraces, while the stone itself assumed a 
white colour, with a smooth or imperfectly conchoi- 
dal fracture. This rock Humboldt considers as ana- 
logous to the Jura deposites. He found the level of 
the valley of Caripe 1279 feet higher than that of 
Guanaguana. Although the former is only sepa- 
rated from the latter by a narrow ridge, it affords a 
complete contrast to it, being deliciously cool and 
salubrious, while the other is remarkable for its great 
heat. 






CONVENT OF CARIPE. 99 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Excursion continued, and Return to Cumana. 

Convent of Caripe — Cave of Guacharo, inhabited by Nocturnal 
Birds — Purgatory — Forest Scenery — Howling Monkeys — Vera 
Cruz — Cariaco — Intermittent Fevers — Cocoa-trees — Passage 
across the Gulf of Cariaco to Cumana. 

Arriving at the hospital of the Arragonese Capu- 
chins, which was backed by an enormous wall of rocks 
of resplendent whiteness, covered with a luxuriant 
vegetation, our travellers were hospitably received by 
the monks. The superior was absent ; but having 
heard of their intention to visit the place, he had pro- 
vided for them whatever could serve to render their 
abode agreeable. The inner court, surrounded by 
a portico, they found highly convenient for setting 
up their instruments and making observations. In 
the convent they found a numerous society, consist- 
ing of old and infirm missionaries, who sought for 
health in the salubrious air of the mountains of Ca- 
ripe, and younger ones newly arrived from Spain. 
Although the inmates of this establishment knew 
that Humboldt was a Protestant, they manifest- 
ed no mark of distrust, nor proposed any indiscreet 
question, to diminish the value of the benevo- 
lence which they exercised with so much liberality. 
Even the light of science had in some degree ex- 
tended to this obscure place ; for, in the library of 



100 CLIMATE OP CARIPE. 

the superior,, they found among other books the 
Trait e d'Electricite by the Abbe Nollet, and one of 
the monks had brought with him a Spanish transla- 
tion of ChaptaFs Treatise on Chemistry. 

The height of this monastery above the sea is 
nearly the same as that of Caraccas and the in- 
habited parts of the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. 
The thermometer was between 60*8° and 63° at 
midnight, between 66*2° and 68° in the morning, 
and only 69*8° or 72*5° about one o'clock. The 
mean temperature, inferred from that of the month 
of September, appears to be 65*3°. This degree 
of heat is sufficient to develop the productions of 
the torrid zone, although much inferior to that of 
the plains of Cumana. Water exposed in vessels of 
porous clay cools during the night as low as 55 '4°. 
The mild climate and rarefied air of this place have 
been found highly favourable to the cultivation of 
coffee, which was introduced into the province by 
the prefect of the Capuchins, an active and enlight- 
ened man. In the garden of the community were 
many culinary vegetables, maize, the sugar-cane, 
and five thousand coffee-trees. 

The greatest curiosity in this beautiful and salu- 
brious district is a cavern inhabited by nocturnal 
birds, the fat of which is employed in the missions 
for dressing food. It is named the Cave of Gua- 
charo, and is situated in a valley three leagues dis- 
tant from the convent. 

On the 18th of September our travellers, accom- 
panied by most of the monks and some of the In- 
dians, set out for this aviary, following for an hour 
and a half a narrow path, leading across a fine plain 
covered with beautiful turf; then, turning westward 



CAVE OF GUACHARO. 101 

along a small river which issues from the cave, they 
proceeded, during three quarters of an hour, some- 
times walking in the water, sometimes on a slippery 
and miry soil between the torrent and a wall of 
rocks, until they arrived at the foot of the lofty 
mountain of Guacharo. Here the torrent ran in a 
deep ravine, and they went on under a projecting 
cliff which prevented them from seeing the sky, 
until at the last turning they came suddenly 
upon the immense opening of the recess, which is 
eighty-five feet broad and seventy-seven feet high. 
The entrance is toward the south, and is form- 
ed in the vertical face of a rock, covered with 
trees of gigantic height, intermixed with numerous 
species of singular and beautiful plants, some of 
which hang in festoons over the vault. This luxu- 
riant vegetation is not confined to the exterior of 
the cave, but appears even in the vestibule, where 
the travellers were astonished to see heliconias nine- 
teen feet in height, palms, and arborescent arums. 
They had advanced about four hundred and sixty 
feet before it became necessary to light their torches, 
when they heard from afar the hoarse screams of 
the birds. 

The guacharo is the size of a domestic fowl, and has 
somewhat the appearance of a vulture, with a mouth 
like that of a goatsucker. It forms a distinct genus 
in the order Passeres, differing from that just named 
in having a stronger beak, furnished with two den- 
ticulations, though in its manners it bears an affinity 
to it as well as to the Alpine crow. Its plumage is 
dark bluish-gray, minutely streaked and spotted with 
deep-brown, the head, wings, and tail, being marked 
with white spots bordered with black. The extent 



102 NOCTURNAL BIRDS. 

of the wings is three feet and a half. It lives on 
fruits, but quits the cave only in the evening. The 
shrill and piercing cries of these birds, assembled in 
multitudes, are said to form a harsh and disagreeable 
noise, somewhat resembling that of a rookery. The 
nests, which the guides showed by means of torches 
fastened to a long pole, were placed in funnel- 
shaped holes in the roof. The noise increased as 
they advanced, the animals being frightened by the 
numerous lights. 

About midsummer every year, the Indians armed 
with poles enter the cave, and destroy the greater 
part of the nests. Several thousands of young birds 
are thus killed, and the old ones hover around, ut- 
tering frightful cries. Those which are secured in 
this manner are opened on the spot, to obtain the 
fat which exists abundantly in their abdomen, and 
which is subsequently melted in clay vessels over 
fires of brushwood. This substance is semifluid, 
transparent, destitute of smell, and keeps above a 
year without becoming rancid. At the convent of 
Caripe it was used in the kitchen of the monks, and 
our travellers never found that it communicated 
any disagreeable smell or taste to the food. 

The guacharoes would have been long ago de- 
stroyed, had not the superstitious dread of the In- 
dians prevented them from penetrating far into the 
cavern. It also appears, that birds of the same spe- 
cies dwell in other inaccessible places in the neigh- 
bourhood, and that the great cave is repeopled by 
colonies from them. The hard and dry fruits which 
are found in the crops and gizzards of the young 
ones are considered as an excellent remedy against 
intermittent fevers, and regularly sent to Cariaco 






INTERIOR OF THE CAVE. 103 

and other parts of the lower districts where sucli 
diseases prevail. 

The travellers followed the banks of the small river 
which issues from the cavern as far as the mounds of 
calcareous incrustations permitted them, and after- 
wards descended into its bed. The cave preserved 
the same direction, breadth, and height, as at its 
entrance, to the distance of 1554 feet. The natives 
having a belief that the souls of their ancestors in- 
habit its deep recesses, the Indians who accompa- 
nied our travellers could hardly be persuaded to 
venture into it. Shooting at random in the dark, 
they obtained two specimens of the guacharo. Hav- 
ing proceeded to a certain distance, they came to a 
mass of stalactite, beyond which the cave became 
narrower, although it retained its original direction. 
Here the rivulet had deposited a blackish mould re- 
sembling that observed at Muggendorf in Franconia. 
The seeds, which the birds carry to their young, spring 
up wherever they are dropped into it ; and M. Hum- 
boldt and his friend were astonished to find blanched 
stalks that had attained a height of two feet. 

As the missionaries were unable to persuade the 
Indians to advance farther, the party returned. The 
river, sparkling amid the foliage of the trees, seemed 
like a distant picture, to which the mouth of the 
cave formed a frame. Having sat down at the en- 
trance to enjoy a little needful repose, they partook 
of a repast which the missionaries had prepared, 
and in due time returned to the convent. 

The days which our travellers passed at this re- 
ligious house glided hastily and pleasantly past. 
From morning to night they traversed the forests 
and mountains collecting plants; and when the rains 



104 DESCENT OF THE BRIGANTINE. 

prevented them from making distant excursions, 
they visited the huts of the Indians; returning to the 
good monks only when the sound of the bell called 
them to the solace of the refectory. Sometimes also 
they followed them to the church, to witness the re- 
ligious instruction given to the Indians ; which was 
found a difficult task, owing to the imperfect know- 
ledge of the Spanish language possessed by the latter. 
The evenings were employed in taking notes, dry- 
ing plants, and sketching those that appeared new. 

The natural beauties of this interesting valley en- 
gaged them so much, that they were long in per- 
ceiving the embarrassment felt by their kind enter- 
tainers, who had now but a very slender store of 
wine and bread. At length, on the 22d Septem- 
ber, they departed, followed by four mules carrying 
their instruments and plants. The descent of the 
rugged chain of the Brigantine and Cocollar, which 
is about 4400 feet in height, is exceedingly difficult. 
The missionaries have given the name of Purga- 
tory to an extremely steep and slippery declivity at 
the base of a sandstone rock, in passing which the 
mules, drawing their hind legs under their bodies, 
slide down at a venture. From this point they saw 
toward the left the great peak of Guacharo, which 
presented a very picturesque appearance ; and soon 
after entered a dense forest, through which they 
descended for seven hours in a kind of ravine, the 
path being formed of steps from two to three feet 
high, over which the mules leaped like wild goats. 
The Creoles have sufficient confidence in these ani- 
mals to remain in their saddles during this dangerous 
passage ; but our travellers preferred walking. 

The forest was exceedingly dense, and consisted 



VEGETATION AND ANIMALS. 105 

of trees of stupendous size. The guides pointed out 
some whose height exceeded 130 feet, while the dia- 
meter of many of the curucays and hymendas was 
more than three yards. Next to these,, the plants 
which most attracted their notice were the dra- 
gon's-blood (Croton sanguiflumn), the purple juice 
of which flowed along the whitish bark, various spe- 
cies of palms, and arborescent ferns of large size. 
The old trunks of some of the latter were covered 
with a carbonaceous powder, having a metallic lus- 
tre like graphite. 

As they descended the mountain the tree-ferns 
diminished, while the number of palms increased. 
Large- winged butterflies {nymphales) became more 
common, and every thing showed that they were 
approaching the coast. The weather was cloudy, 
the heat oppressive, and the howling of the mon- 
keys gave indication of a coming thunder-storm. 
These creatures, the arguatoes, resemble a young 
bear, and are about three feet long from the top of 
the head to the root of the tail. The fur is tufty 
and reddish-brown, the face blackish-blue, with 
a bare and wrinkled skin, and the tail long and 
prehensile. 

While engaged in observing a troop of them 
cross the road upon the horizontal branches of the 
trees, the travellers met a company of naked Indians 
proceeding towards the mountains of Caripe. The 
men were armed with bows and arrows, and the 
women, heavily laden, brought up the rear. They 
marched in silence, with their eyes fixed on the 
ground. Our philosophers, oppressed with the in- 
creasing heat and faint with fatigue, endeavoured 
to learn from them the distance of the missionary 



106 VERA CRUZ AND CATUARO. 

convent of Vera Cruz, where they intended to pass 
the night; but little information could be obtained 
on account of their imperfect knowledge of the Spa- 
nish language. 

Continuing to descend amid scattered blocks, they 
unexpectedly found themselves at the end of the fo- 
rest, when they entered a savannah, the verdure of 
which had been renewed by the winter rains. Here 
they had a splendid view of the Sierra del Guacharo, 
the northern declivity of which presented an almost 
perpendicular wall, exceeding 3200 feet in height, 
and scantily covered with vegetation. The ground 
before them consisted of several level spaces, lying 
above each other like vast steps. The mission of 
Vera Cruz, which is situated in the middle of it, 
they reached in the evening, and next day continued 
their journey toward the Gulf of Cariaco. 

Proceeding on their way, they entered another 
forest, and reached the station of Catuaro, situated 
in a very wild spot, where they lodged at the house 
of the priest. Their host was a doctor of divinity, a 
thin little man, of petulant vivacity, who talked con- 
tinually of a lawsuit in which he was engaged with 
the superior of his convent, and wished to know what 
Humboldt thought of free-will and the souls of ani- 
mals. At this place they met with the corregidor 
of the district, an amiable person, who gave them 
three Indians to assist in cutting a way through the 
forest, the lianas and intertwining branches having 
obstructed the narrow lanes. The little missionary, 
however, insisted on accompanying them to Cariaco, 
and contrived to render the road extremely tedious 
by his observations on the necessity of the slave- 
trade, the innate wickedness of blacks, and the be- 



CARIACO — INTERMITTENT FEVER. 10J 

nefit which they derived from being reduced to 
bondage by Christians. 

The road which they followed through the forest 
of Catuaro resembled that of the preceding day. The 
clay, which filled the path and rendered it excessive- 
ly slippery, was produced by layers of sandstone 
and slate-clay which cross the calcareous strata. At 
length, after a fatiguing march, they reached the 
town of Cariaco, on the coast, where they found a 
great part of the inhabitants confined to their beds 
with intermittent fever. The low situation of the 
place as well as of the surrounding district, the 
great heat and moisture, and the stagnant marshes 
generated during the rainy season, are supposed to 
be the causes of this disease, which often assumes a 
malignant character, and is accompanied with dy- 
sentery. Men of colour, and especially Creole ne- 
groes, resist the influence of the climate much better 
than any other race. It is generally observed, how- 
ever, that the mortality is less than might be sup- 
posed ; for although intermittent fevers, when they 
attack the same individual several years in succes- 
sion, alter and weaken the constitution, they do not 
usually cause death. It is remarkable, that the na- 
tives believe the air to have become more vitiated in 
proportion as a larger extent of land has been cul- 
tivated ; but the miasmata from the marshes, and 
the exhalations from the mangroves, avicenniae, and 
other astringent plants growing on the borders of the 
sea, are probably the real causes of the unhealthiness 
of the coasts. 

In 1800 the town of Cariaco contained more than 
6000 inhabitants, who were actively employed in 
the cultivation of cotton, the produce of which ex- 



108 GULF OF CARIACO. 

ceeded 10,000 quintals (9057 lbs. avoirdupois). The 
capsules, after the separation of the wool, were care- 
fully burnt, as they were thought to occasion noxious 
exhalations when thrown into the river. Cacao and 
sugar were also raised to a considerable extent. 

As our travellers were not sufficiently inured to 
the climate, they considered it prudent to leave 
Cariaco as expeditiously as possible on account of 
the fever. Embarking early in the morning, they 
proceeded westward along the river of Carenicuar, 
which flows through a deep marshy soil covered 
with gardens and plantations of cotton. The Indian 
women were washing their linen with the fruit of the 
parapara (Sapindus saponaria). Contrary winds, 
accompanied with heavy rain and thunder, render- 
ed the voyage disagreeable ; more especially as the 
canoe was narrow and overloaded with raw sugar, 
plantains, cocoa-nuts, and passengers. Swarms of 
flamingoes, egrets, and cormorants, were flying to- 
ward the shore, while the alcatras, a large species 
of pelican, less affected by the weather, continued 
fishing in the bay. The general depth of the sea is 
from 288 to 320 feet ; but at the eastern extremity 
of the gulf it is only from nineteen to twenty-five 
feet for an extent of seventeen miles, and there is 
a sandbank, which at low water resembles a small 
island. They crossed the part where the hot springs 
rush from the bottom of the ocean ; but it being high 
water the change of temperature was not very per- 
ceptible. The contrary winds continuing, they 
were forced to land at Pericautral, a small farm on 
the south side of the gulf. The coast, although co- 
vered by a beautiful vegetation, was almost desti- 
tute of human labour, and scarcely possessed seven 



RETURN TO CUMANA. 109 

hundred inhabitants. The cocoa-tree is the prin- 
cipal object of cultivation. This palm thrives best 
in the neighbourhood of the sea, and like the sugar- 
cane, the plantain, the mammee-apple, and the al- 
ligator-pear, may be watered either with fresh or 
salt water. In other parts of America it is generally 
nourished around farm-houses ; but along the Gulf 
of Cariaco it forms real plantations, and at Cumana 
they talk of a hacienda de coco, as they do of a ha- 
cienda de canna, or de cacao. In moist and fertile 
ground it begins to bear abundantly the fourth 
year ; but in dry soils it does not produce fruit un- 
til the tenth. Its duration does not generally ex- 
ceed ninety or a hundred years ; at which period its 
mean height is about eighty feet. Throughout this 
coast a cocoa-tree supplies annually about a hundred 
nuts, which yield eight fiascos of oil. The fiasco is 
sold for about sixteenpence. A great quantity is 
made at Cumana, and Humboldt frequently wit- 
nessed the arrival there of canoes containing 3000 
nuts. The oil, which is clear and destitute of smell, 
is well adapted for burning. 

After sunset they left the farm of Pericautral, 
and at three in the morning reached the mouth of 
the Manzanares, after passing a very indifferent 
night in a narrow and deeply-laden canoe. Hav- 
ing been for several weeks accustomed to mountain 
scenery, gloomy forests, and rainy weather, they 
were struck by the bareness of the soil, the clearness 
of the sky, and the mass of reflected light by which 
the neighbourhood of Cumana is characterized. At 
sunrise they saw the zamuro vultures (Vultur 
aura) perched on the cocoa-trees in large flocks. 
These birds go to roost long before night, and do 



110 SLEEP OF PLANTS. 

not quit their place of repose until after the heat of 
the solar rays is felt. The same idleness, as it were, 
is indulged by the trees with pinnate leaves, such as 
the mimosas and tamarinds, which close these organs 
half an hour before the sun goes down, and unfold 
them in the morning only after he has been some 
time visible. In our climates the leguminous plants 
open their leaves during the morning twilight. 
Humboldt seems to think that the humidity depo- 
sited upon the parenchyma by the refrigeration of 
the foliage, which is the effect of the nocturnal ra- 
diation, prevents the action of the first rays of the 
sun upon them. 



NATIVE RACES. 



Ill 



CHAPTER IX. 

Indians of New Andalusia. 

Physical Constitution and Manners of the Chaymas — Their Lan- 
guages — American Races. 

It is the custom of Humboldt, in his " Journey to 
the Equinoctial Regions/' to stand still after an ex- 
cursion, reflect, and present to his readers the result 
of his inquiries on any subject that has fixed his 
attention. For example, on concluding the narra- 
tive of his visit to the Chayma missions, he gives a 
general account of the aborigines of New Andalu- 
sia, of which an abridgment is here offered. 

The north-eastern part of Equinoctial America, 
Terra Firma, and the shores of the Orinoco, resem- 
ble, in the multiplicity of the tribes by which they 
are inhabited, the defiles of Caucasus, the mountains 
of Hindookho, and the northern extremity of Asia, 
beyond the Tungooses and the Tartars of the mouth 
of the Lena. The barbarism which prevails in these 
various regions is perhaps less owing to an original 
absence of civilisation than to the effects of a long 
debasement ; and if every thing connected with the 
first population of a continent were known, we 
should probably find that savages are merely tribes 
banished from society and driven into the forests. 
At the commencement of the conquest of America, 
the natives were collected into large bodies only on 



112 NUMBER OF ABORIGINES. 

the ridge of the Cordilleras and the coast opposite to 
Asia, while the vast savannahs, and the great plains 
covered by forests and intersected by rivers, present- 
ed wandering tribes, separated by differences of lan- 
guage and manners. 

In New Andalusia, Curnana, and New Barcelona, 
the aborigines still form fully one-half of the scanty 
population. Their number may be about 60,000, 
of which 24,000 inhabit the first of these provinces. 
This amount appears large when we refer to the hunt- 
ing tribes of North America, but seems the reverse 
when we look to those districts of New Spain where 
agriculture has been followed for more than eight 
centuries. Thus, the intendancy of Oaxaca, which 
forms part of the old Mexican empire, and which 
is one- third smaller than the two provinces of Cu- 
rnana and Barcelona, contains more than 400,000 
of the original race. The Indians of Cum ana do 
not all live assembled in the missions, some being 
found dispersed in the neighbourhood of towns along 
the coasts. The stations of the Arragonese Capu- 
chins contain 15,000, almost all of the Chayma 
tribe. The villages, however, are less crowded than 
in the province of Barcelona, their indigenous popu- 
lation being only between five and six hundred; 
whereas, more to the west, in the establishments 
of the Franciscans of Piritoo, there are towns of 
2000 or 3000 inhabitants. Besides the 60,000 na- 
tives of the provinces of Cumana and Barcelona, 
there are some thousands of Guaraounoes who have 
preserved their independence in the islands at the 
mouth of the Orinoco. Excepting a few families, 
there are no wild Indians in New Andalusia. 

The term wild or savage, Humboldt says he uses 
5 



WILD AND CIVILIZED INDIANS. 113 

with regret, because it implies a difference of culti- 
vation which does not always exist between the 
reduced or civilized Indian, living in the missions, 
and the free or independent Indian. In the fo- 
rests of South America there are tribes which dwell 
in villages, rear plantains, cassava, and cotton, 
and are scarcely more barbarous than those in the 
religious establishments, who have been taught to 
make the sign of the cross. It is an error to consi- 
der all the free natives as wandering hunters ; for 
agriculture existed on the continent long before 
the arrival of the Europeans, and still exists be- 
tween the Orinoco and the Amazons, in districts 
to which they have never penetrated. The sys- 
tem of the missions has produced an attachment 
to landed property, a fixed residence, and a taste 
for quiet life ; but the baptized Indian is often 
as little a Christian as his heathen brother is an 
idolater, — both discovering a marked indifference 
for religious opinions, and a tendency to worship 
nature. 

There is no reason to believe, that in the Spanish 
colonies the number of Indians has diminished since 
the conquest. There are still more than six mil- 
lions of the copper-coloured race in both Americas ; 
and although tribes and languages have been de- 
stroyed or blended in those colonies, the natives have 
in fact continued to increase. In the temperate 
zone the contact of Europeans with the indigenous 
population becomes fatal to the latter ; but in South 
America the result is different, and there they do 
not dread the approach of the whites. In the form- 
er case a vast extent of country is required by the 
Indians, because they live by hunting; but in the 



114 PROGRESS OF THE MISSIONS. 

latter a small piece of ground suffices to afford sub- 
sistence for a family. 

In these provinces the Europeans advance slowly; 
and the religious orders have founded establish- 
ments between the regions inhabited by them and 
those possessed by the independent Indians. The 
missions have no doubt encroached on the liberty 
of the natives,, but they have generally been fa- 
vourable to the increase of the population. As the 
preachers advance into the interior the planters in- 
vade their territory ; the whites and the castes of 
mixed breed settle among the Indians ; the missions 
become Spanish villages ; and finally, the old inha- 
bitants lose their original manners and language. 
In this way civilisation advances from the coasts to- 
wards the centre of the continent. 

New Andalusia and Barcelona contain more than 
fourteen tribes of Indians. Those of the former are 
the Chaymas, Guayquerias, Pariagotoes, Quaquas, 
Aruacas, Caribs, and Guaraounoes ; and those of the 
latter, the Cumanagatoes, Palenkas, Caribs, Piritoos, 
Tomoozas, Topocuares, Chacopatas, and Guarivas. 
The precise number of the Guaraounoes, who live in 
huts elevated on trees at the mouth of the Ori- 
noco, is not known. There are two thousand Guay- 
querias in the suburbs of Cumana and the penin- 
sula of Araya. Of the other tribes the Chaymas of 
the mountains of Caripe, the Caribs of New Barce- 
lona, and the Cumanagatoes of the missions of Pi- 
ritoo, are the most numerous. The language of the 
Guaraounoes, and that of the Caribs, Cumanagatoes, 
and Chaymas, are the most general, and seem to 
belong to the same stock. 

Although the Indians attached to the missions 



CHARACTER OF THE INDIANS. 115 

are all agriculturists,, cultivate the same plants, build 
their huts in the same manner, and lead the same 
kind of life, yet the shades by which the several 
tribes are distinguished remain unchanged. There 
are few of these villages in which the families 
do not belong to different tribes, and speak dif- 
ferent languages. The missionaries have, indeed, 
prohibited the use of various practices and cere- 
monies, and have destroyed many superstitions ; 
but they have not been able to alter the essential 
character common to all the American races, from 
Hudson's Bay to the Straits of Magellan. The in- 
structed Indian, more secure of subsistence than 
the untamed native, and less exposed to the fury of 
hostile neighbours or of the elements, leads a more 
monotonous life, possesses the mildness of character 
which arises from the love of repose, and assumes a 
sedate and mysterious air; but the sphere of his 
ideas has received little enlargement, and the ex- 
pression of melancholy which his countenance ex- 
hibits is merely the result of indolence. 

The Chaymas, of whom more than fifteen thou- 
sand inhabit the Spanish villages, and who border on 
the Cumanagatoes toward the west, the Guaraounoes 
toward the east, and the Caribs toward the south, 
occupy part of the elevated mountains of the Cocollar 
and Guacharo, as also the banks of the Guarapiche, 
Rio Colorado, Areo, and the Cano of Caripe. The 
first attempt to reduce them to subjection was made 
in the middle of the seventeenth century by Father 
Francisco of Pamplona, a person of great zeal and 
intrepidity. The missions subsequently formed 
among these people suffered greatly in 1681, 169J> 
and 1720, from the invasions of the Caribs ; while 



116 CHAYMAS: 

during six years subsequently to 1730, the popula- 
tion was diminished by the ravages of the small-pox. 

The Chaymas are generally of low stature, their 
ordinary height being about five feet two inches ; 
but their figures are broad and muscular. The 
colour of the skin is a dull brown inclining to red. 
The expression of the countenance is sedate and 
somewhat gloomy; the forehead is small and re- 
tiring ; the eyes sunk, very long and black, but not 
so small or oblique as in the Mongolian race ; the 
eyebrows slender, nearly straight, and black or dark- 
brown, and the eyelids furnished with very long 
lashes ; the cheekbones are usually high ; the hair 
straight; the beard almost entirely wanting, as in the 
same people, from whom, however, they differ es- 
sentially in having the nose pretty long. The mouth 
is wide, the lips broad but not prominent, the chin 
extremely short and round, and the jaws remarkable 
for their strength. The teeth are white and sound, 
the toothach being a disease with which they are 
seldom afflicted. The hands are small and slender, 
while the feet are large and the toes possessed of 
an extraordinary mobility. They have so strong a 
family look, that on entering a hut it is often diffi- 
cult, among grown up persons, to distinguish the 
father from the son. This is attributable to the cir- 
cumstance of their only marrying in their own tribe, 
as well as to their inferior degree of intellectual im- 
provement ; the differences between uncivilized and 
cultivated man being similar to those between wild 
and domesticated animals of the same species. 

As they live in a very warm country they 
are excessively averse to clothing. In spite of the 
remonstrances of the monks, men and women re- 



THEIR MANNERS. 117 

main naked while within their houses ; and, when 
they go out, wear only a kind of cotton gown scarce- 
ly reaching to the knees. The dress of the men has 
sleeves, while that of the women and boys has none, 
the arms, shoulders, and upper part of the breast 
being uncovered. Till the age of nine the girls are" 
allowed to go to church naked. The missionaries 
complain that the feeling of modesty is very little 
known to the younger of the sex. The women are 
not handsome ; but the maidens have a kind of plea- 
sant melancholy in their looks. No instances of na- 
tural deformity occurred to the travellers. Humboldt 
remarks, that deviations from nature are exceedingly 
rare among certain races of men, especially such as 
have the skin highly coloured ; an effect which he 
does not ascribe solely to a luxurious life or the 
corruption of morals, but rather imagines that the 
immunity enjoyed by the American Indians arises 
from hereditary organization. The custom of marry- 
ing at a very early age, which depends upon the 
same circumstance, is stated to be no way detrimen- 
tal to population. It occurs in the most northern 
parts of the continent as well as in the warmest, 
and, therefore, is not dependent upon climate. 

They have naturally very little hair on the chin, 
and the little that appears is carefully plucked 
out. This thinness of the beard is common to the 
American race, although there are tribes, such as 
the Chipeways and the Patagonians, in which it 
assumes respectable dimensions. 

The Chaymas lead a very regular and uniform 
life. They go to bed at seven and rise at half after 
four. The inside of their huts is kept very clean, and 
their hammocks, utensils, and weapons, are arranged 



118 INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 

in the greatest order. They bathe every day, and, 
being generally naked, are thus exempted from the 
iilth principally caused by clothing. Besides their 
cabin in the village, they usually have a smaller one, 
covered with palm or plantain leaves, in some soli- 
tary place in the woods, to which they retire as 
often as they can ; and so strong is the desire among 
them of enjoying the pleasures of savage life, that 
the children sometimes wander entire days in the 
forests. In fact the towns are often almost wholly 
deserted. As in all semi-barbarous nations, the wo- 
men are subjected to privation and suffering, the 
hardest labour falling to their share. 

The Indians learn Spanish with extreme diffi- 
culty; and even when they perfectly understand the 
meaning of the words, are unable to express the 
most simple ideas in that language without embar- 
rassment. They seem to have as little capacity for 
comprehending any thing belonging to numbers ; the 
more intelligent counting in Spanish with the ap- 
pearance of great effort only as far as thirty, or per- 
haps fifty, while in their own tongue they cannot 
proceed beyond five or six. The construction of the 
American dialects is so different from that of the se- 
veral classes of speech derived from the Latin, that 
the Jesuits employed some of the more perfect among 
the former instead of their own ; and had this sys- 
tem been generally followed the greatest benefit 
would have resulted from it. The Chayma appear- 
ed to Humboldt less agreeable to the ear than that of 
the other South American tribes. 

The Pariagotoes, or Parias, formerly occupied 
the coasts of Berbice and Essequibo, the peninsula 
of Paria, and the plains of Piritoo and Parima. 






OTHER NATIVE TRIBES. 119 

Little information,, however, is furnished respecting 
them. 

The Guaraounoes are dispersed in the delta of 
the Orinoco, and owe their independence to the na- 
ture of their country. In order to raise their houses 
above the inundations of the river, they support 
them on the trunks of the mangrove and mauritia 
palm. They make bread of the flour obtained from 
the pith of the latter tree. Their excellent qualities as 
seamen, their perfect knowledge of the mouths and in- 
osculations of that magnificent stream,, and their great 
number, give them a certain degree of political im- 
portance. They run with great address on marshy 
ground, where the whites, the negroes, or other In- 
dian tribes, will not venture ; and this circumstance 
has given rise to the idea of their being specifically 
lighter than the rest of the natives. 

The Guayquerias are the most intrepid fisher- 
men of these countries, and are the only persons 
well acquainted with the great bank that surrounds 
the islands of Coche, Margarita, Sola, and Testigos. 
They inhabit Margarita, the peninsula of Araya, 
and a suburb of Cumana. 

The Quaquas, formerly a very warlike tribe, are 
now mingled with the Chaymas attached to the mis- 
sions of Cumana, although their original abode was 
on the banks of the Assiveru. 

The Cumanagatoes, to the number of more than 
twenty thousand, subject to the Christian stations 
of Piritoo, live westward of Cumana, where they 
cultivate the ground. At the beginning of the six- 
teenth century they inhabited the mountains of the 
Brigantine and Parabolota. 

The Caribbees of these countries are part of the 
remnant of the great Carib nation. 



120 AMERICAN RACES. 

The natives of America may be divided into two 
great classes. To the first belong the Esquimaux of 
Greenland, Labrador, and Hudson's Bay, and the in- 
habitants of Behring's Straits, Alaska, and Prince 
William's Sound. The eastern and western branches 
of this great family, the Esquimaux proper and the 
Tschougages, are united by the most intimate simi- 
larity of language, although separated to the im- 
mense distance of eight hundred leagues. The in- 
habitants of the north-east of Asia are evidently of 
the same stock. Like the Malays, this hyperborean 
nation resides only on the seacoast. They are of 
smaller stature than the other Americans, lively 
and loquacious. Their hair is straight and black ; 
but their skin is originally white, in which respect 
they essentially differ from the other class. 

The second race is dispersed over the various re- 
gions of the continent, from the northern parts to the 
southern extremity. They are of larger size, more 
warlike, and more taciturn, and differ in the colour 
of their skin. At the earliest age it has more or 
less of a coppery tinge in most of the tribes, while in 
others the children are fair, or nearly so ; and certain 
tribes on the Orinoco preserve the same complexion 
during their whole life. Humboldt is of opinion 
that these differences in colour are but slightly in- 
fluenced by climate or other external circumstances, 
and endeavours to impress the idea that they depend 
on the original constitution. 



TRAVELLERS ATTACKED BY A ZAMBO. 121 



CHAPTER X. 

Residence at Cumana. 

Residence at Cumana — Attack of a Zambo — Eclipse of the Sun — 
Extraordinary Atmospherical Phenomena — Shocks of an Earth- 
quake — Luminous Meteors. 

Our travellers remained a month longer at Cumana. 
As they had determined to make a voyage on the 
Orinoco and Rio Negro,, preparations of various kinds 
were necessary ; and the astronomical determination 
of places being the most important object of this un- 
dertaking, it was of essential advantage to observe 
an eclipse of the sun which was to happen in the 
end of October. 

On the 27th, the day before the obscuration, 
they went out in the evening, as usual, to take the 
air. Crossing the beach which separates the suburb 
of the Guayquerias from the landing-place, they 
heard the sound of footsteps behind, and on turning 
saw a tall Zambo, who, coming up, flourished a 
great palm-tree bludgeon over Humboldt's head. 
He avoided the stroke by leaping aside ; but Bon- 
pland was less fortunate, for, receiving a blow 
above the temple, he was felled to the ground. 
The former assisted his companion to rise, and botli 
now pursued the ruffian, who had run off witli 
one of their hats, and on being seized, drew a 
long knife from his trousers. In the mean time 



122 REMARKABLE ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA. 

some Biscay an merchants, who were walking on the 
shore, came to their assistance ; when the Zambo, 
seeing himself surrounded, took to his heels and 
sought refuge in a cowhouse, from which he was led 
to prison. The inhabitants showed the warmest 
concern for the strangers, and although Bonpland 
had a fever during the night he speedily recovered. 
The object of the Zambo, who soon afterwards suc- 
ceeded in escaping from the castle of San Antonio, 
was never satisfactorily made out. 

Notwithstanding this untoward accident Hum- 
boldt was enabled to observe the eclipse. The days 
which preceded and followed it displayed very re- 
markable atmospheric phenomena. It was what is 
called winter in those countries. From the 10th of 
October to the 3d of November a reddish vapour rose 
in the evening, and in a few minutes covered the sky. 
The hygrometer gave no indication of humidity. 
The diurnal heat was from 82-4° to 89-6°. Some- 
times in the midst of the night the mist dis- 
appeared for a moment, when clouds of a brilliant 
whiteness formed in the zenith, and extended towards 
the horizon. On the 18th of October they were 
so transparent that they did not conceal stars even 
of the fourth magnitude, and the spots of the moon 
were very clearly distinguished. They were ar- 
ranged in masses at equal distances, and seemed to 
be at a prodigious height. From the 28th of Octo- 
ber to the 3d of November the fog was thicker than 
it had yet been. The heat at night was stifling, al- 
though the thermometer indicated only 78'8°. The 
evening breeze was no longer felt ; the sky appear- 
ed as if on fire, and the ground was every where 
cracked and dusty. On the 4th of November, about 



EARTHQUAKE. 123 

two in the afternoon, large clouds of extraordi- 
nary blackness enveloped the mountains of the 
Brigantine and Tataraqual, extending gradually to 
the zenith. About four, thunder was heard over- 
head, but at an immense height, and with a dull 
and often interrupted sound. At the moment of 
the strongest electric explosion, two shocks of an 
earthquake, separated by an interval of fifteen se- 
conds, were felt. The people in the streets filled 
the air with their cries. Bonpland, who was ex- 
amining plants, was nearly thrown on the floor, 
and Humboldt, who was lying in his hammock, felt 
the concussion strongly. Its direction was from north 
to south. A few T minutes before the first, there 
was a violent gust of wind followed by large drops 
of rain. The sky remained cloudy, and the blast w r as 
succeeded by a dead calm which continued all night. 
The setting of the sun presented a scene of great mag- 
nificence. The dark atmospheric shroud was rent 
asunder close to the horizon, and the sun appeared 
at 12° of altitude on an indigo ground, its disk 
enormously enlarged and distorted. The clouds w r ere 
gilded on the edges, and bundles of rays reflecting 
the most brilliant prismatic colours extended over 
the heavens. About nine in the evening there was 
a third shock, which, although much slighter, was 
evidently attended with a subterranean noise. The 
barometer was a little lower than usual, but the 
progress of the horary variations was in no way in- 
terrupted. In the night, between the 3d and 4th of 
November, the red vapour was so thick that the 
place of the moon could be distinguished only by a 
beautiful halo, 20° in diameter. 

Scarcely twenty- two months had elapsed since 



124 EXTRAORDINARY DISPLAY 

the almost total destruction of Cumana by an earth- 
quake j and as the people look on the vapours, and 
the failure of the breeze during the night, as prog- 
nostics of disaster, the travellers had frequent visits 
from persons desirous of knowing whether their in- 
struments indicated new shocks on the morrow. On 
the 5th, precisely at the same hour, the same pheno- 
mena recurred, but without any agitation; and the 
gust accompanied by thunder returned periodically 
for five or six days. 

This earthquake, being the first that Humboldt 
ever felt, made a strong impression upon him ; but 
scenes of this kind afterwards became so familiar as 
to excite little apprehension. It appeared to have 
a sensible influence on the magnetical phenomena. 
Soon after his arrival on the coasts of Cumana, he 
found the dip of the needle 43*53° of the centesimal 
division. On the 1st of November it was 43-65°. 
On the 7th, three days after the concussion, he was 
astonished to find it no more than 42*75°, or 90 
centesimal degrees less. A year later, on his return 
from the Orinoco, he still found it 42*80°, though 
the intensity of the magnetic forces remained the 
same after as before the event under consideration, 
being expressed by 229 oscillations in ten minutes of 
time. On the 7th November he observed the mag- 
netic variation to be 4° 13' 50" E. 

The reddish vapour which appeared about sunset 
ceased on the 7th of November. The atmosphere 
then assumed its former purity ; and the night of the 
11th was cool and extremely beautiful. Towards 
rnorning a very extraordinary display of luminous 
meteors was observed in the east by M. Bonpland, 
who had risen to enjoy the freshness of the air 



i 



OF LUMINOUS METEORS^ 125 

in the gallery. Thousands of fire-balls and falling- 
stars succeeded each other during four hours, hav- 
ing a direction from north to south, and filling a 
space of the sky extending from the true east 30 de- 
grees on either side. They rose above the horizon 
at E.N.E. and at E., described arcs of various sizes, 
and fell toward S., some attaining a height of 40°, 
and all exceeding 25° or 30°. No trace of clouds 
was to be seen, and a very slight easterly wind blew 
in the lower regions of the atmosphere. All the me- 
teors left luminous traces from five to ten degrees 
in length, the phosphorescence of which lasted seven 
or eight seconds. The fire-balls seemed to explode, 
but the largest disappeared without scintillation; 
and many of the falling-stars had a very distinct 
nucleus, as large as the disk of Jupiter, from which 
sparks were emitted. The light occasioned by them 
was white, — an effect which must be attributed to 
the absence of vapours ; stars of the first magnitude 
having, within the tropics, a much paler hue at their 
rising than in Europe. 

As the inhabitants of Cumana leave their houses 
before four, to attend the first morning mass, most 
of them were witnesses of this phenomenon, which 
gradually ceased soon after, although some were 
still perceived a quarter of an hour before sunrise. 

The day of the 12th November was exceedingly 
hot, and in the evening the reddish vapour reappear- 
ed in the horizon, and rose to the height of 14°. 
This was the last time it was seen that year. 

The researches of M. Chladni having directed the 
attention of the scientific world to fire-balls and fall- 
ing-stars at the period of Humboldt's departure from 
home, he did not fail to inquire, during his jour- 



126 LUMINOUS METEORS. 

ney from Caraccas to the Rio Negro,, whether the 
meteors of the 12th November had been seen. He 
found that they had been observed by various indi- 
viduals in places very remote from each other ; and 
on returning to Europe was astonished to find that 
they had been seen there also. The following is a 
brief account of the facts relating to these pheno- 
mena : — 1st, The luminous meteors were seen in 
the E. and E.N.E. at 40° of elevation, from 2 to 6 
a.m., at Cumana, in lat. 10° 27' 52", long. 66° 30' ; 
at Porto Cabello, in lat. 10° 6' 52", long. 67° 5' ; and 
on the frontiers of Brazil, near the equator, in long. 
70° west. 2dly, The Count de Marbois observed 
them in French Guiana, lat. 4° 56', long. 54° 35'. 
3dly, Mr Ellicot, astronomer to the United States, 
being in the Gulf of Florida on the 12th November, 
saw an immense number of meteors, some of which 
appeared to fall perpendicularly ; and the same phe- 
nomenon was perceived on the American continent 
as far as lat. 30° 42'. 4thly, In Labrador, in lat. 
56° 55', and lat. 58° 4? ; in Greenland, in latitudes 
61° 5' and 64° 14', the natives were frightened by the 
vast quantity of fire-balls that fell during twilight, 
some of them of great size. 5thly, In Germany, 
Mr Zeissing, vicar of Itterstadt near Weimar, in 
lat. 50° 59', long. 9° 1' E., observed between 6 and 
7 in the morning of the 12th November some fall- 
ing-stars having a very white light. Soon after 
reddish streaks appeared in the S. and S.W. ; and 
at dawn the south-western part of the sky was from 
time to time illuminated by white lightning run- 
ning in serpentine lines along the horizon. 

Calculating from these facts, it is manifest that 
the height of the meteors was at least 1419 miles; 






LUMINOUS METEORS. 127 

and as near Weimar they were seen in the S. and 
S.W., while at Cumana they were observed in the E. 
and N.E., we must conclude that they fell into the 
sea between Africa and South America, to the west 
of the Cape Verd Islands. 

Without entering into the learned discussion, 
which Humboldt submits to his readers, respect- 
ing the nature of these luminous bodies, we shall 
merely observe, that he found falling-stars more fre- 
quent in the equinoctial regions than in the tem- 
perate zone, and also that they occurred oftener over 
continents and near certain coasts than on the ocean. 
He states that on the platform of the Andes, there 
was observed, upwards of forty years ago, a pheno- 
menon similar to that related above as having oc- 
curred at Cumana. From the city of Quito an 
immense number of meteors was seen rising over 
the volcano of Cayambo, insomuch that the whole 
mountain was thought to be on fire. They con- 
tinued more than an hour, and a religious proces- 
sion was about to be commenced, when the true 
nature of the luminous appearance was discovered, 



128 DEPARTURE FROM CUMANA. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Voyage from Cumana to Guayra. 

Passage from Cumana to La Guayra — Phosphorescence of the Sea — 
Group of the Caraccas and Chimanas — Port of New Barcelona — 
La Guayqa — Yellow Fever — Coast and Cape Blanco — Road from 
La Guayra to Caraccas. 

Having completed the partial investigations which 
their short residence admitted, and having in some 
measure become acclimatized, the adventurous phi- 
losophers prepared to leave Cumana. Passing by 
sea to La Guayra;, they intended to take up their 
abode in the town of Caraccas until the rainy season 
should be over ; from thence to traverse the Llanos, 
or great plains, to the missions of the Orinoco ; to go 
up that river as far as the Rio Negro ; and to return 
to Cumana by Angostura, the capital of Spanish 
Guiana. 

On the 16th November, at eight in the evening, 
they took their passage in one of the boats which 
trade between these coasts and the West India islands. 
They are thirty-two feet long, three feet high at 
the gunwale, without decks, and generally carry 
from 200 to 250 quintals (181 to 226 cwts. avoirdu- 
pois). Although the sea is very rough from Cape 
Codera to La Guayra, and these boats have an 
enormous triangular sail, there had not been an in- 
stance for thirty years of the loss of one of them on 

7 



PHOSPHORESCENCE OF THE SEA. 131 

the passage from Cumana to Caraccas, so great is 
the skill of the Guayqueria pilots. They descend- 
ed the Manzanares with rapidity, delighted with the 
sight of its marginal cocoa-trees, and the glitter of 
the thorny bushes covered with noctilucous insects/ 
and left with regret a country in which every 
thing had appeared new and marvellous. Pass- 
ing at high water the bar of the river, they entered 
the Gulf of Cariaco, the surface of which was gently 
rippled by the evening breeze. In a short time the 
coasts were recognised only by the scattered lights 
of the Indian fishermen. 

As they advanced toward the shoal that surrounds 
Cape Arenas, stretching as far as the petroleum 
springs of Maniquarez, they enjoyed one of those 
beautiful sights which the phosphorescence of the 
sea so often displays in tropical climates. When the 
porpoises, which followed the boat in bands of fifteen 
or sixteen, struck the surface of the water with their 
tails, they produced a brilliant light resembling 
flames. Each troop left behind it a luminous track ; 
and as few sparks were caused by the motion of an 
oar or of the boat, Humboldt conjectured that the 
vivid glow produced by these cetaceous animals was 
owing not to the stroke of their tails alone, but also 
to the gelatinous matter which envelops their bo- 
dies, and which is detached by the waves. 

At midnight they found themselves among some 
rocky islets, rising in the form of bastions, and con- 
stituting the group of the Caraccas and Chimanas. 
Many of these eminences are visible from Cumana, 
and present the most singular appearances under 
the effect of mirage. Their height, which is pro- 
bably not more than 960 feet, seemed much greater 



132 ISLAND OP BORACHA. 

when enlightened by the moon, which now shone in 
a clear sky. The travellers were becalmed in the 
neighbourhood of these islands, and at sunrise drift- 
ed toward Boracha, the largest of them. The tem- 
perature had sensibly increased, in consequence of 
the rocks giving out by radiation a portion of the 
heat which they had absorbed during the day. As 
the sun rose, the cliffs projected their lengthened 
shadows on the ocean, and the flamingoes began to 
fish in the creeks. These insular spots were all un- 
inhabited ; but on one of them, which had formerly 
been the residence of a family of whites, there were 
wild goats of a large size and brown colour. The 
inhabitants had cultivated maize and cassava ; but 
the father, after the death of his children, having 
purchased two black slaves, was murdered by them. 
One of the assassins subsequently informed against 
his accomplice, and at the time of Humboldt's visit 
was hangman at Cumana. 

Proceeding onwards, they anchored for some 
hours in the road of New Barcelona, at the mouth 
of the river Neveri, w T hich is full of crocodiles, 
These animals, especially in calm weather, occa- 
sionally make excursions into the open sea, — a fact 
which is interesting to geologists, on account of the 
mixture of marine and fresh water organic remains 
that are occasionally observed in some of the more 
recent deposites. The port of Barcelona had at 
that time a very active commerce, arising from the 
demand in the West Indies for salted provision, 
oxen, mules, and horses ; the merchants of the Ha- 
vannah being the principal purchasers. Its situa- 
tion is extremely favourable for this exportation, 
the animals arriving in three days from the Llanos, 



MORRO DE BARCELONA. 133 

while they take more than double that time to 
reach Cumana, on account of the chain of mountains 
which they have to cross. Eight thousand mules 
were embarked at Barcelona, six thousand at Porto 
Cabello, and three thousand at Carupano, in 1799 
and 1800, for the several islands. 

Landing on the right bank of the river, they 
ascended to a small fort, the Morro de Barcelona, 
built on a calcareous rock, at an elevation of about 
400 feet above the sea, but commanded by a much 
higher hill on the south. Here they observed a 
very curious geological phenomenon, which recurred 
in the Cordilleras of Mexico. The limestone, which 
had a dull, even, or flat conchoidal fracture, and 
was divided into very thin strata, was traversed by 
layers of black slaty jasper, with a similar frac- 
ture, and breaking into fragments having a paraL 
lelopipedal form. It did not exhibit the little veins 
of quartz so common in Lydian stone, and was de- 
composed at the surface into a yellowish-gray crust. 

Setting sail on the 19th at noon, they found the 
temperature of the sea at its surface to be 78*6°; 
but when passing through the narrow channel 
which separates the Piritoos, in three fathoms it 
was only 76' 1°. These islands do not rise more 
than eight or nine inches above the mean height 
of the tide, and are covered with long grass. To 
the westward of the Morro de Barcelona and the 
mouth of the river Unare, the ocean became more 
and more agitated as they approached Cape Codera, 
the influence of which extends to a great distance. 
Beyond this promontory it always runs very high, 
although a gale of wind is never felt along this 
coast. It blew fresh during the night, and on 



134 MANGROVES. 

the 20th/ at sunrise,, they were so far advanced as to 
be in expectation of doubling the Cape in a few 
hours ; but some of the passengers having suffered 
from sea-sickness, and the pilot being apprehensive 
of' danger from the privateers stationed near La 
Guayra, they made for the shore, and anchored at 
nine o'clock in the Bay of Iliguerota, westward of 
the Rio Capaya. 

On landing, they found two or three huts in- 
habited by mestizo fishermen, the livid tint of whom, 
together with the miserable appearance of their 
children, gave indication of the unhealthy nature of 
the coast. The sea is so shallow that one cannot go 
ashore in the smallest boat without wading. The 
woods come nearly to the beach, which is covered 
with mangroves, avicennias, manchineel-trees, and 
Suriana maritima, called by the natives romero de 
la mar. Here as elsewhere the insalubrity of the air 
is attributed to the exhalations from the first of these 
plants. A faint and sickly smell was perceived, re- 
sembling that of the galleries of deserted mines. The 
temperature rose to 932°, and the water along the 
whole coast acquired a yellowish-brown tint where- 
ever it was in contact with these trees. 

Struck by this phenomenon, Humboldt gather- 
ed a considerable quantity of branches and roots, 
with the view of making experiments on the man- 
grove upon his arrival at Caraccas. The infusion 
in warm water was of a brown colour, and had an 
astringent taste. It contained extractive matter and 
tannin. When kept in contact with atmospheric 
air under a glass jar for twelve days, the purity of the 
latter was not perceptibly affected. The wood and 
roots placed under water were exposed to the rays of 



LOW SHORES OF TROPICAL REGIONS. 135 

the sun. Bubbles of air were disengaged, which at 
the end of ten days amounted to a volume of 40 cubic 
inches. These consisted of azote and carbonic acid, 
with a trace of oxygen. Lastly,, the same substances 
thoroughly wetted were enclosed with a given vo- 
lume of atmospheric air in a phial. The whole of 
the oxygen disappeared. These experiments led 
him to think that it is the moistened bark and fibre 
that act upon the atmosphere, and not the brownish 
water which formed a distinct belt along the coast. 
Many travellers attribute the smell perceived among 
mangroves to the disengagement of sulphuretted hy- 
drogen, but no appearance of this kind was observed 
in the course of these investigations. 

" Besides/' says Humboldt, ' c a thick wood cover- 
ing a muddy ground would diffuse noxious exhala- 
tions in the atmosphere, were it composed of trees 
which in themselves have no deleterious property. 
Wherever mangroves grow on the margin of the 
sea, the beach is peopled wdth multitudes of mol- 
lusca and insects. These animals prefer the shade 
and a faint light ; and find shelter from the waves 
among the closely interlaced roots which rise like 
lattice- work above the surface of the water. Shells 
attach themselves to the roots, crustaceous animals 
nestle in the hollow trunks, the seaweeds which 
the wind and tide drive upon the shore remain 
hanging upon the recurved branches. In this man- 
ner the maritime forests, by accumulating masses 
of mud among their roots, extend the domain of the 
continents; but, in proportion as they gain upon 
the sea, they scarcely experience any increase in 
breadth, their very progress becoming the cause of 
their destruction. The mangroves and the other 



136 CAPE CODERA. 

plants with which they always associate die as the 
ground dries,, and when the salt water ceases to 
bathe them. Centuries after,, their decayed trunks, 
covered with shells, and half buried in the sand, 
mark both the route which they have followed in 
their migrations, and the limit of the land which 
they have wrested from the ocean." 

Cape Codera, seven miles distant from the Bay of 
Iliguerota, is more imposing on account of its mass 
than for its elevation, which appeared to be only 
1280 feet. It is precipitous on the north, west, and 
east. Judging from the fragments of rock found 
along the coast, and from the hills near the town, 
it is composed of foliated gneiss, containing nodules 
of reddish felspar, and little quartz. The strata 
next the bay have the same dip and direction as the 
great mountain of the Silla, which stretches from 
Caraccas to Maniquarez in the Isthmus of Araya, 
and seem to prove that the primitive chain forming 
that neck of land, after being disruptured or swal- 
lowed up by the sea along an extent of 121 miles, 
reappears at Cape Codera, and runs westward in an 
unbroken line. Toward the north the cape forms 
an immense segment of a sphere, and at its foot 
stretches a tract of low land, known to navigators 
by the name of the Points of Tutumo and of San 
Francisco. 

The passengers in the boat dreaded the rolling in 
a rough sea so much, that they resolved to proceed 
to Caraccas by land, and M. Bonpland, following 
their example, procured a rich collection of plants. 
Humboldt, however, continued the voyage, as it 
seemed hazardous to lose sight of the instruments. 

Setting sail at the beginning of the night they 



ARRIVAL AT LA GUAYRA. 137 

doubled Cape Codera with difficulty, the wind be- 
ing unfavourable, and the surges short and high. 
On the 21st of November, at sunrise, they were op- 
posite Curuao, to the west of the Cape. The Indian 
pilot was frightened at seeing an English frigate 
only a mile distant; but they escaped without attract- 
ing notice. The mountains were every where preci- 
pitous, and from 3200 to 4300 feet high, while along 
the shore was a tract of low humid land, glowing 
with verdure, and producing a great part of the fruits 
found so abundantly in the neighbouring markets. 
The peaks of Niguatar and the Silla of Caraccas 
form the loftiest summits of this chain. In the 
fields and valleys the sugar-cane and maize are cul- 
tivated. To the west of Caravalleda the declivities 
along shore are again very steep. After passing this 
place they discovered the village of Macuto, the black 
rocks of La Guayra covered with batteries, and in 
the distance the long promontory of Cabo Blanco, 
with conical summits of dazzling whiteness. 

Humboldt landed at Guayra, and in the evening 
arrived at Caraccas, four days sooner than his fel- 
low-travellers, who had suffered greatly from the 
rains and inundations. The former he describes as 
rather a road than a port, the sea being always agi- 
tated, and ships suffering from the action of the wind, 
the tideways, the bad anchorage, and the worms. 
The lading is taken in with difficulty. The free mu- 
lattoes and negroes, who carry the cocoa on board 
the ships, are remarkable for their strength. They 
go through the water up to their middles, although 
this place abounds in sharks, from which, however, 
they have in reality nothing to dread. It is singu- 
lar, that while these animals are dangerous and 



1 38 SHARKS GUAYRA. 

bloodthirsty at the island opposite the coast of Carac- 
cas, at the Roques, at Buenos Ayres, and at Curas- 
sao, they do not disturb persons swimming in the 
ports of Guayra and Santa Martha. As an analogous 
fact, Humboldt mentions that the crocodiles of one 
pool in the Llanos are cowardly, while those of ano- 
ther attack with the greatest fierceness. 

The situation of La Guayra resembles that of 
Santa Cruz in Teneriffe ; the houses, which are built 
on a flat piece of ground about 640 feet broad, 
being backed by a wall of rock, beyond which is a 
chain of mountains. The town consists of two pa- 
rallel streets, and contains 6000 or 8000 inhabi- 
tants. The heat is greater than even at Cumana, 
Porto Cabello, or Coro, the Seabreeze being less felt, 
and the temperature being increased by the radiant 
caloric emitted by the rocks after sunset. 

The examination of the thermometrical observa- 
tions, made at La Guayra during nine months by 
Don Joseph Herrera, enabled Humboldt to compare 
the climate of that port with those of Cumana, Ha- 
vannah, and Vera Cruz. The result of this compa- 
rison was, that the first mentioned is one of the hottest 
places on the globe ; that the quantity of heat which 
it receives in the course of a year is a little greater 
than that experienced at Cumana ; but that in No- 
vember, December, and January, the atmosphere 
cools to a lower point. The mean temperature of 
the year in these several districts is as follows : — At 
La Guayra, nearly 82*6°; at Cumana, 81*2°; at 
Vera Cruz, 777°; at Havannah, 78*1°; while at 
Rio Janeiro it is 74*5° ; at Santa Cruz in Teneriffe, 
71'4°; at Cairo, 723° ; and at Rome, 604°. 

At the time of Humboldt's visit to La Guayra, 






YELLOW FEVER. 139 

the yellow fever, or calentura amarilla, had been 
known only two years there,, and the mortality had 
not been very great, as the confluence of strangers 
was less than at Havannah and Vera Cruz. Some 
individuals., even Creoles and mulattoes, were occa- 
sionally taken off by remittent attacks, complicated 
with bilious symptoms and hemorrhages, and their 
death often alarmed unseasoned Europeans ; but the 
disease was not propagated. On the coast of Terra 
Firma this malignant typhus w T as known only at 
Porto Cabello, Carthagena, and Santa Martha. But 
since 1797 things have changed. The extension of 
commerce having caused an influx of Europeans and 
seamen from the United States, the distemper in 
question soon appeared. It is maintained by some, 
that it was introduced by a brig from Philadelphia, 
while others think it took its birth in the country 
itself, and attribute its origin to a change in the 
constitution of the atmosphere caused by the over- 
flowings of the Rio de la Guayra, which inundated 
the town. This fever has since continued its ravages, 
and has proved fatal not only to troops newly ar- 
rived from Spain, but also to those raised far from 
the coast, in the Llanos between Calabozo and Uri- 
tuco, a region nearly as hot as La Guayra itself. It 
scarcely ever passes beyond the ridge of mountains 
that separates this province from the valley of Carac- 
cas, which has long been exempted from it. The 
following are the principal pathological facts having 
reference to this frightful pestilence : — 

When a great number of persons, born in a cold 
climate, arrive at a port in the torrid zone, the insa- 
lubrity of which has not been particularly dreaded 
by navigators, the American typhus (black vomit- 



140 YELLOW FEVER. 

ing, or yellow fever) makes its appearance. These 
persons, we may add, are not affected by it during 
the passage ; it manifests itself only on the spot. 
Has the constitution of the atmosphere been changed? 
asks Humboldt ; or, has a new form of disease de- 
veloped itself in individuals whose excitability is 
raised to a high pitch ? 

The malady forthwith attacks other Europeans 
born in warmer countries. Immediate contact does 
not increase the danger, nor does seclusion diminish 
it. When the sick are removed to the interior, and 
especially to cooler and more elevated places, they 
do not communicate the typhus to the inhabitants. 
Whenever a considerable diminution of temperature 
occurs, the distemper usually ceases ; but it again 
begins at the commencement of the hot season, al- 
though no ship may have entered the harbour for 
several months. 

The yellow fever disappears periodically at Ha- 
vannah and at Vera Cruz, when the north winds 
carry the cold air of Canada towards the Mexican 
Gulf ; but as Porto Cabello, La Guayra, New Bar- 
celona, and Cumana, possess an extreme equality of 
temperature, it is probable that it will become per- 
manent there. Happily, the mortality has dimi- 
nished since the treatment has been varied accord- 
ing to the modifications which the disease assumes. 
In well-managed hospitals, the number of deaths is 
often reduced to eighteen or fifteen in a hundred ; 
but when the sick are crowded together, the loss 
increases to one-half or even more. 

To the west of La Guayra there are several in- 
dentations of the land which furnish excellent an- 
chorage. The coast is granitic, and a great portion 



ROAD TO CAEACCAS. 141 

of it extremely unhealthy. At Cape Blanco the 
gneiss passes into mica-slate, containing beds of chlo- 
rite-slate, in which garnets and magnetic sand occur. 
On the road to Catia the chlorite-slate is seen pass- 
ing into hornblende-slate. At the foot of the pro- 
montory the sea throws on the beach rolled frag- 
ments of a granular mixture of hornblende and 
felspar,, in which traces of quartz and pyrites are 
recognised. On the western declivity of that hill 
the gneiss is covered by a recent sandstone or con- 
glomerate, in which are observed angular fragments 
of gneiss, quartz, and chlorite, magnetic sand, ma- 
drepores, and bivalve shells. The latitude of the 
Cape is 10° 36' 45" ; that of La Guayra is 10° 36' 19", 
its longitude 67° 5' 49". 

The road from La Guayra to Caraccas resembles 
the passages over the Alps ; but, as it is kept in 
tolerable repair, it requires only three hours to go 
with mules from the port to the capital, and two 
hours to return. The ascent commences with a 
ridge of rocks, and is extremely laborious. In the 
steepest parts the path winds in a zigzag manner. 
At the Salto, or Leap, there is a crevice winch is 
passed by a drawbridge, and on the summit of the 
mountain are fortifications. Half-way is La Ven- 
ta (the Inn) ; beyond which there is a rise of 960 
feet to Guayavo, which is not far from the highest 
part of the route. At the fort of La Cuchilla 
Humboldt was nearly made prisoner by some 
Spanish soldiers, whom he, however, contrived to 
pacify. Round the little inn several travellers 
were assembled, who were disputing on the efforts 
that had been made towards obtaining independ- 
ence; on the hatred of the mulattoes against the 
2 



142 GEOLOGY OF THE DISTRICT. 

free negroes and whites ; the wealth of the monks ; 
and on the difficulty of holding slaves in obedience. 
From Guayavo the road passes over a smooth table- 
land covered with Alpine plants ; and here is seen 
for the first time the capital, standing nearly 2000 
feet lower, in a beautiful valley enclosed by lofty 
mountains. 

The ridges between La Guayra and Caraccas con- 
sist of gneiss. On the south side the eminence, which 
bears the name of Avila, is traversed by veins of 
quartz, containing rutile in prisms of two or three 
lines in diameter. The gneiss of the intervening 
valley contains red and green garnets, which disap- 
pear when the rock passes into mica- slate. Near the 
cross of La Guayra, half a league distant from Carac- 
cas, there were vestiges of blue copper-ore disseminat- 
ed in veins of quartz, and small layers of graphite. 
Between the former point and the spring of Sanchor- 
quiz, were beds of bluish-gray primitive limestone, 
containing mica, and traversed by veins of white cal- 
careous spar. In this deposite were found crystals of 
pyrites and rhomboidal fragments of sparry iron-ore. 



VENEZUELA. 143 



CHAPTER XII. 

City of Caraccas and surrounding District. 

City of Caraccas — General View of Venezuela — Population — Cli- 
mate — Character of the Inhabitants of Caraccas — Ascent of the 
Silla — Geological Nature of the District, and the Mines. 

Caraccas, the capital of the former captain-general- 
ship of Venezuela, is more known to Europeans on 
account of the earthquakes by which it was deso- 
lated than from its importance in a political or com- 
mercial point of view. At the present day it is the 
chief city of a district of the same name, forming part 
of the republic of Columbia ; though, at the time of 
Humboldt's visit, it was the metropolis of a Spanish 
colony which contained nearly a million of inhabit- 
ants, and consisted of New Andalusia, or the province 
of Cumana, New Barcelona, Venezuela or Caraccas, 
Coro, and Maracaybo, along the coast ; and in the 
interior, the provinces of Varinas and Guiana. 

In a general point of view Venezuela presents 
three distinct zones. Along the shore, and near the 
chain of mountains which skirts it, we find cultivated 
land ; behind this, savannahs or pasturages ; and 
beyond the Orinoco, a mass of forests, penetrable 
only by means of the rivers by which it is traversed. 
In these three belts, the three principal stages of 
civilisation are found more distinct than in almost 
any other region. We have the life of the wild 



144 THREE DISTINCT ZONES. 

hunter in the woody district — the pastoral life in 
the savannahs — and the agricultural in the valleys 
and plains which descend to various parts of the 
coast. Missionaries and a few soldiers occupy ad- 
vanced posts on the southern frontiers. In this 
section are felt the preponderance of force and the 
abuse of power. The native tribes are engaged in 
perpetual hostilities ; the monks endeavour to aug- 
ment the little villages of their missions by availing 
themselves of the dissensions of the Indians ; and 
the soldiers live in a state of war with the clergy. 
In the second division, that of the plains and prairies, 
where food is extremely abundant, little advance has 
been made in civilisation, and the inhabitants live in 
huts partly covered with skins. It is in the third 
district alone, where agriculture and commerce are 
pursued, that society has made any progress. 

In following our travellers through these interest- 
ing countries, it is necessary that we lose sight in 
some measure of the present constitution of the South 
American states, and view them simply as Spanish 
provinces. When we seek, says Humboldt, to 
form a precise idea of those vast regions, which for 
ages have been governed by viceroys and captains- 
general, we must fix our attention on several points. 
We must distinguish the parts of Spanish Ame- 
rica that are opposite to Asia, and those that are 
washed by the Atlantic, — we must observe where 
the greatest part of the population is placed, whether 
near the coast or in the interior, or on the table- 
lands of the Cordilleras, — we must determine the 
numerical proportions between the natives and other 
inhabitants, and examine to what race, in each part 
of the colonies, the greater number of whites be- 



POPULATION OF VENEZUELA. 145 

long. The inhabitants of the different districts 
of the mother-country preserve in some measure 
their moral peculiarities in the New World, al- 
though they have undergone various modifications 
depending upon the physical constitution of their 
new abode. 

In Venezuela, whatever is connected with an 
advanced state of civilisation is found along the 
coast, which has an extent of more than two hun- 
dred leagues. It is washed by the Caribbean Sea, 
a kind of Mediterranean, on the shores of which 
almost all the European nations have founded colo- 
nies, and which communicates at several points with 
the Atlantic Ocean. Possessing much facility of 
intercourse with the inhabitants of other parts of 
America, and with those of Europe, the natives 
have acquired a great degree of knowledge and 
opulence. 

The Indians constitute a large proportion of the 
agricultural residents in those places only where 
the conquerors found regular and long-established 
governments, as in New Spain and Peru. In the 
province of Caraccas, for example, the native po- 
pulation is inconsiderable, having been in 1800 not 
more than one-ninth of the whole, while in Mexico 
it formed nearly one-half. The black slaves do 
not exceed one-fifteenth of the general mass, where- 
as in Cuba they were in 1811 as one to three, and 
in other West India islands still more numerous. In 
the Seven United Provinces of Venezuela, there 
were 60,000 slaves; while Cuba, which has but 
one-eighth of the extent, had 212,000. The blacks 
of these countries are so unequally distributed, that 
in the district of Caraccas alone there were nearly 



146 CITY OF CARACCAS. 

40,000;, of which one-fifth were mulattoes. Hum- 
boldt estimates the Creoles, or Hispano- Americans, at 
210,000 in a population of 900,000, and the Euro- 
peans, not including troops, at 12,000 or 15,000. 

Caraccas was then the seat of an audiencia, or 
high court of justice, and one of the eight arch- 
bishoprics into which Spanish America was divid- 
ed. Its population in 1800 was about 40,000. In 
1766 great devastation w T as made by the small-pox, 
from 6000 to 8000 individuals having perished ; but 
since that period inoculation has become general. 
In 1812 the inhabitants amounted to 50,000, of 
which 12,000 were destroyed by the earthquakes ; 
while the political events which succeeded that ca- 
tastrophe reduced their number to less than twenty 
thousand. 

The town is situated at the entrance of the val- 
ley of Chacao, which is ten miles in length, eight 
and a half miles in breadth, and about 2650 feet 
above the level of the sea. The ground occupied 
by it is a steep uneven slope. It was founded by 
Diego de Losada in 1567. Three small rivers de- 
scending from the mountains traverse the line of its 
direction ; it contained eight churches, five convents, 
and a theatre capable of holding 1500 or 1800 per- 
sons. The streets were wide, and crossed each other 
at right angles ; the houses spacious and lofty. 

The small extent of the valley, and the proximity 
of the mountains of Avila and the Silla, give a stern 
and gloomy character to the scenery, particularly in 
November and December, when the vapours accu- 
mulate towards evening along the high grounds; 
in June and July, however, the atmosphere is clear 
and the air pure and delicious. The two rounded 






CLIMATE. 147 

summits of the latter are seen from Caraccas, nearly 
under the same angle of elevation as the Peak of 
Teneriffe is observed from Orotava. The first half 
of the ascent is covered with grass ; then succeeds 
a zone of evergreen trees ; while above this the rocky 
masses rise in the form of domes destitute of vegeta- 
tion. The cultivated region below forms an agree- 
able contrast to the sombre aspect of the towering 
ridges which overhang the town, as well as of the 
hills to the north. 

The climate of Caraccas is a perpetual spring, the 
temperature by day being between 68° and 79°, and 
by night between 60° and 64°. It is, however, liable 
to great variations, and the inhabitants complain of 
having several seasons in twenty- four hours, as well 
as a too rapid transition from one to another. In 
January, for example, a night of which the mean 
heat does not exceed 60° is followed by a day in 
which the thermometer rises above 71° in the shade. 
Although in our mild climates oscillations of this 
kind produce no disagreeable effects, yet in the tor- 
rid zone Europeans themselves are so accustomed to 
uniformity in the temperature, that a difference of 
a few degrees is productive of unpleasant sensations. 
This inconvenience is aggravated here by the posi- 
tion of the town in a narrow valley, which is at one 
time swept by a wind from the coast, loaded with 
humidity, and depositing its moisture in the higher 
regions as the warmth decreases; and at another by 
a dry breeze from the interior, which dissipates the 
vapours and unveils the mountain-summits. This 
inconstancy of climate, however, is not peculiar to 
Caraccas, but is common to the whole equinoctial 
regions near the tropics. Uninterrupted serenity 






148 CULTIVATION. 

during a great part of the year prevails only in the 
low districts adjoining the sea, or on the elevated 
table-lands of the interior. The intermediate zone is 
misty and variable. 

In this province the sky is generally less blue than 
at Cumana. The intensity of colour measured by 
Saussure's cyanometer was commonly 18°, and 
never above 20°, from November to January, while 
on the coasts it was from 22° to 25°. The mean 
temperature is estimated by Humboldt at 68° or 
72°. The heat very seldom rises to 84°, and in 
winter it has been observed to fall as low as 52°. 
The cold at night is more felt on account of its being 
usually accompanied by a misty sky. Rains are very 
frequent in April, May, and June. No hail falls 
in the low regions of the tropics, but it is seen here 
every fourth or fifth year. 

The coffee-tree is much cultivated in the val- 
ley, and the sugar-cane thrives even at a still 
greater height. The banana, the pine-apple, the 
vine, the strawberry, the quince, the apple, the 
peach, together with maize, pulse, and corn, grow 
in great perfection. But although the atmospheric 
constitution of this Alpine vale be favourable to di- 
versified culture, it is not equally so to the health 
of the inhabitants, as the inconstancy of the weather, 
and the frequent suppression of cutaneous perspira- 
tion, give rise to catarrhal affections ; and a Euro- 
pean, once accustomed to the violent heat, enjoys 
better health in the low country, where the air is 
not very humid, than in the elevated and cooler 
districts. 

The travellers remained two months at Caraccas, 
where they lived in a large house in the upper 



RESIDENCE AT CARACCAS. 149 

part of the town, from which they had an exten- 
sive view of the mountain-plain, the ridge of the 
Gallipano, and the summit of the Silla. It was the 
season of drought, and the conflagrations intended to 
improve the pasturage produced the most singular 
effects when seen at night. 

They experienced the greatest kindness from all 
classes of the inhabitants, and more especially from 
the captain- general of the province, M. de Guevara 
Vascongelos. Caraccas being situated on the con- 
tinent, and its population less mutable than that of 
the islands, the national manners had not under- 
gone so material a change. Notwithstanding the 
increase of the blacks, says Humboldt, at Caraccas 
and the Havannah, we seem to be nearer Cadiz 
and the United States than in any other part of 
the New World. There was nothing to be seen of 
the cold and assuming air so common in Europe ; 
on the contrary, conviviality, candour, uniform 
cheerfulness, and politeness of address, character- 
ized the natives of Spanish origin. The travellers 
found in several families a taste for instruction, 
some knowledge of French and Italian literature, 
and a particular predilection for music. But there 
was a total deficiency of scientific attainments ; nor 
had the simplest of all the physical sciences, botany, 
a single cultivator. Previous to 1806 there were no 
printing- offices in Caraccas. 

Believing that in a country which presents such 
enchanting views, and exhibits such a profusion of 
natural productions, he should find many persons 
well acquainted with the surrounding mountains, 
Humboldt yet failed to discover one individual who 
had visited the summit of the Silla. But the go- 



150 ASCENT OF THE SILLA. 

vernor having ordered the proprietor of a plantation 
to furnish the philosophers with negro guides who 
knew something of the way, they prepared for the 
ascent. 

As in the whole month of December, the moun- 
tain had appeared only five times without clouds, 
and as at that season two clear days seldom succeed 
each other, they were advised to choose for their 
excursion an interval when, the clouds being low, 
they might hope, by passing through them, to enter 
into a transparent atmosphere. They spent the 
night of the 2d January at a coffee-plantation, near 
a ravine, in which the little river Chacaito formed 
some fine cascades. At five in the morning they 
set out, accompanied by slaves carrying their instru- 
ments, and about seven reached a promontory of the 
Silla, connected with the body of the mountain by 
a narrow dyke. The weather was fine and cool. 
They proceeded along this ridge of rocks, between 
two deep valleys covered with vegetation ; the large, 
shining, and coriaceous leaves, illumined by the sun, 
presenting a very picturesque appearance. Beyond 
this point the ascent became very steep, the ac- 
clivity being often from 32° to 33°. The surface was 
covered with short grass, which afforded no support 
when laid hold of, and it was impossible to imprint 
steps in the gneiss. The persons who had accom- 
panied them from the town were discouraged, and 
at length retired. 

Slender streaks of mist began to issue from the 
woods, and afforded indications of a dense fog. The 
familiar loquacity of the negro Creoles formed a 
striking contrast to the gravity of the Indians who 
had attended the travellers in the missions of Ca- 



VEGETATION AND MINERALS. 151 

ripe. They amused themselves at the expense of 
the deserters, among whom was a young Capuchin 
monk, a professor of mathematics, who had promised 
to fire off rockets from the top of the mountain, to 
announce to the inhabitants of Caraccas the success 
of the expedition. 

The eastern peak being the most elevated, they 
directed their course to it. The depression between 
the two summits has given rise to the name Silla, 
which signifies a saddle. From this hollow a ravine 
descends towards the valley of Caraccas. This nar- 
row opening originates near the western dome, and 
the eastern summit is accessible only by going first 
to the westward of it, straight over the promontory 
of the Puerta. 

From the foot of the cascade of Chacaito to an 
elevation of 6395 feet they found only savannahs 
or pastures, among which were observed two small 
liliaceous plants with yellow flowers and some bram- 
bles. Mixed with the latter they expected to find a 
wild rose, but were disappointed ; nor did they sub- 
sequently meet with a single species of that genus in 
any part of South America. 

Sometimes lost in the mist, they made their way 
with difficulty, and there being no path, they were 
obliged to use their hands in climbing the steep and 
slippery ascent. A vein of porcelain-clay, the re- 
mains of decomposed felspar, attracted their atten- 
tion. Whenever the clouds surrounded them the 
thermometer fell to 53*6° ; but when the sky was 
clear it rose to 69-8°. At the height of 6011 feet 
they saw in a ravine a wood of palms, which form- 
ed a striking contrast with the willows scattered at 
the bottom of the valley. 



152 ALPINE PLANTS. 

After proceeding four, hours across the pastures 
they entered a small forest. The acclivity became 
less steep, and they observed a profusion of rare and 
beautiful plants. At the height of 6395 feet the 
savannahs terminate, and are succeeded by a zone 
of shrubs, with tortuous branches, rigid leaves, and 
large purple flowers, consisting of rhododendra, thi- 
baudise, andromedse, vaccinia, and befarise. 

Leaving this little group of Alpine plants they 
again found themselves in a savannah, and climbed 
over part of the western dome, to descend into the 
hollow which separates the two summits. Here 
the vegetation was so strong and dense, that they 
were obliged to cut their way through it. On a 
sudden they were enveloped in a thick mist, and 
being in danger of coming inadvertently upon the 
brink of an enormous wall of rocks, which on the 
north side descends perpendicularly to the depth of 
more than 6000 feet, were obliged to stop. At this 
point, however, the negroes who carried their pro- 
visions, and who had been detained by the recre- 
ant philosopher already mentioned, overtook them, 
when they made a poor repast, the negroes or the 
padre having left nothing but a few olives and a lit- 
tle bread. The guides were discouraged, and were 
with difficulty prevented from returning. 

In the midst of the fog the electrometer of Volta, 
armed with a smoking match, gave very sensible 
signs of atmospheric electricity, varying frequently 
from positive to negative, and this, together with 
the conflict of small currents of air, appeared to indi- 
cate a change of weather. It was only two in the af- 
ternoon, and they yet entertained some hope of reach- 
ing the eastern summit before sunset, and of returning 






IMMENSE PRECIPICE. 153 

to the hollow separating the two peaks,, where they 
might pass the night. With this view they sent half 
of their attendants to procure a supply, not of olives 
but of salt beef. These arrangements were scarcely 
made w r hen the east wind began to blow violently, 
and in less than two minutes the clouds disappeared. 
The obstacles presented by the vegetation gradually 
diminished as they approached the eastern summit, 
in order to attain which it was necessary to go close 
to the great precipice. Hitherto the gneiss had pre- 
served its lamellar structure ; but as they climbed 
the cone of the Silla they found it passing into 
granite, containing instead of garnets a few scatter- 
ed crystals of hornblende. In three quarters of an 
hour they reached the top of the pyramid, which 
was covered with grass, and for a few minutes en- 
joyed all the serenity of the sky. The elevation be- 
ing 8633 feet, the eye commanded a vast range of 
country. The slope, which extends nearly to the 
sea, had an angle of 53° 28', though when viewed 
from the coast it seems perpendicular. Humboldt re- 
marks that a precipice of 6000 or 7000 feet is a phe- 
nomenon much rarer than is usually believed, and 
that a rock of 1600 feet of perpendicular height 
has in vain been sought for among the Swiss Alps. 
That of the Silla is partly covered with vegetation, 
tufts of befariae and andromedae appearing as if sus- 
pended from the rock. 

Seven months had elapsed since they were on 
the summit of the Peak of Teneriffe, where the 
apparent horizon of the sea is six leagues farther 
distant than on the Silla ; yet while the boundary- 
line was seen distinct in the former place, it was 
completely blended with the air in the latter. The 



154 BEES SUMMIT OF THE SILLA. 

western dome concealed the town of Caraccas ; but 
they distinguished the villages of Chacao and Pe- 
tare, the coffee-plantations, and the course of the 
Rio Guayra. While they were examining the part 
of the sea where the horizon was well denned, and 
the great chain of mountains in the distant south, 
a dense fog arose from the plains, and they were 
obliged to use all expedition in completing their 
observations. 

When seated on the rock, employed in determin- 
ing the dip of the needle, Humboldt found his hands 
covered by a species of hairy bee, a little smaller 
than the honey-bee of Europe. These insects make 
their nest in the ground, seldom fly, move very 
slowly, and are apt to use their sting, the guides as- 
serting that they do so only when seized by the legs. 

The temperature varied from 52° to 57°^ according 
as the weather was calm or otherwise. The dip of 
the needle was one centesimal degree less than at Ca- 
raccas. The breeze was from the east, which might 
indicate that the trade- winds extend in this latitude 
much higher than 9600 feet. The blue of the at- 
mosphere was deeper than on the coasts, Saussure's 
cyanometer indicating 26*5°, while at Caraccas it 
generally gave only 18° in fine dry weather. The 
phenomenon that most struck the travellers was the 
apparent aridity of the air, which seemed to increase 
as the mist thickened, the hygrometer retrograding, 
and their clothes remaining dry. 

As it would have been imprudent to remain long 
in a dense fog, on the brink of a precipice, the tra- 
vellers descended the eastern dome, and, on regain- 
ing the hollow between the two summits, were 
surprised to find round pebbles of quartz, a phe- 



DESCENT ORES. 155 

nomenon which perhaps indicates that the moun- 
tain has been raised by a power applied from below. 
Relinquishing their design of passing the night in 
that valley, and having again found the path which 
they had cut through the wood, they soon arrived 
at the district of resinous shrubs, where they linger- 
ed so long collecting plants that darkness surprised 
them as they entered the savannah. The moon 
was up, but every now and then obscured by clouds. 
The guides who carried the instruments slunk off 
successively to sleep among the cliffs ; and it was not 
until ten that the travellers arrived at the bottom 
of the ravine, overcome by thirst and fatigue. 

During the excursion to the Silla, and in all their 
walks in the valley of Caraccas, they were very aU 
tentive to the indication of ores which they found 
in the gneiss mountains. In America that rock 
has not hitherto been found to be very rich in metals, 
the most celebrated mines of Mexico and Peru be- 
ing in primitive and transition slate, trap, porphyry, 
graywacke, and Alpine limestone. In several parts 
of the region now visited a small quantity of gold 
was found disseminated in veins of quartz, sulphu- 
retted silver, blue copper-ore, and leadglance ; but 
these deposites did not seem of any importance. In 
the group of the western mountains of Venezuela, 
the Spaniards, in 1551, attempted the gold mine of 
Buria, but the works were soon given up. In the vi- 
cinity of Caraccas some had also been wrought, but 
to no great extent. In short, the mines here afforded 
little gratification to the cupidity of the conquerors, 
and were almost totally abandoned, those of Arva, 
near San Felipe el Fuerte, being the only ones in 
operation when Humboldt visited the country. 



156 RAVINE OF TIPE. 

In the course of their investigations the travellers 
examined the ravine of Tipe, situated in that part of 
the valley which opens toward Cape Blanco. The 
first portion of the road was over a barren and rocky 
soil,, on which grew a few plants of Argemone Mexi- 
cana. On either side of the defile was a range of 
bare mountains,, and at this spot the plain on which 
the town is built communicates with the coast near 
Catia by the valleys of Tacagua and Tipe. In 
the former they found some plantations of maize 
and plantains, and a very extensive one of cactuses 
fifteen feet high. They met with several veins of 
quartz, containing pyrites, carbonated iron-ore, sul- 
phuretted silver, and gray copper. The works that 
had been undertaken were superficial, and now 
filled up. 



PHENOMENA OF EARTHQUAKES. 157 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Earthquakes of Caraccas. 

Extensive Connexion of Earthquakes — Eruption of the Volcano of 
St Vincent's— Earthquake of the 26th March 1812— Destruc- 
tion of the City — Ten Thousand of the Inhabitants killed — Con- 
sternation of the Survivors — Extent of the Commotions. 

The valley of Caraccas, a few years after Hum- 
boldt's visit, became the theatre of one of those phy- 
sical revolutions which from time to time produce 
violent alterations upon the surface of our planet ; 
involving the overthrow of cities, the destruction of 
human life, and a temporary agitation of those ele- 
ments of nature on which the system of the uni- 
verse is founded. In the narrative of his Journey 
to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, 
he has recorded all that he could collect with cer- 
tainty respecting the earthquake of the 26th March 
1812, which destroyed the city of Caraccas, together 
with 20,000 inhabitants of the province of Venezuela. 

When our travellers visited those countries, they 
found it to be a general opinion, that the eastern 
parts of the coasts were most exposed to the de- 
structive effects of such concussions, and that the 
elevated districts, remote from the shores, were in 
a great measure secure; but in 1811 all these ideas 
were proved groundless. 

At Humboldt's arrival in Terra Firma, he was 



158 EARTHQUAKE OF CARACCAS. 

struck with the connexion which appeared between 
the destruction of Cumana in 1797 and the erup- 
tion of volcanoes in the smaller West India islands. 
A similar principle was manifested in 1832, in the 
case of Caraccas. From the beginning of 1811 till 
1813; a vast extent of the earth's surface, limited by 
the meridian of the Azores, the valley of the Ohio, 
the cordilleras of New Grenada, the coasts of Ve- 
nezuela, and the volcanoes of the West Indies', was 
shaken by subterranean commotions, indicative of 
a common agency exerted at a great depth in the 
interior of the globe. At the period when these 
earthquakes commenced in the valley of the Missis- 
sippi, the city of Caraccas felt the first shock in 
December 1811, and on the 26th March of 1812 it 
was totally destroyed. 

" The inhabitants of Terra Firma were ignorant 
of the agitation, which on the one hand the vol- 
cano of the island of St Vincent had experienced, 
and on the other the basin of the Mississippi, where, 
on the 7th and 8th of February 1812, the ground 
was day and night in a state of continual oscillation. 
At this period the province of Venezuela laboured 
under great drought ; not a drop of rain had fallen 
at Caraccas, or to the distance of 311 miles around, 
during the five months which preceded the destruction 
of the capital. The 26th March was excessively hot ; 
the air was calm and the sky cloudless. It was 
Holy Thursday, and a great part of the population 
was in the churches. The calamities of the day 
were preceded by no indications of danger. At 
seven minutes after four in the evening the first 
commotion was felt. It was so strong as to make 
the bells of the churches ring. It lasted from five 



PROGRESS OF THE SHOCKS. 159 

to six seconds, and was immediately followed by 
another shock of from ten to twelve seconds, during 
which the ground was in a continual state of undu- 
lation, and heaved like a fluid under ebullition. 
The danger was thought to be over, when a prodi- 
gious subterranean noise was heard, resembling the 
rolling of thunder, but louder and more prolong- 
ed than that heard within the tropics during thun- 
der-storms. This noise preceded a perpendicular 
motion of about three or four seconds, followed by 
an undulatory motion of somewhat longer duration. 
The shocks were in opposite directions, from north 
to south and from east to west. It was impossible 
that any thing could resist the motion from beneath 
upwards, and the undulations crossing each other. 
The city of Caraccas was completely overthrown. 
Thousands of the inhabitants (from nine to ten 
thousand) were buried under the ruins of the 
churches and houses. The procession had not yet 
set out ; but the crowd in the churches was so great, 
that nearly three or four thousand individuals were 
crushed to death by the falling in of the vaulted roofs. 
The explosion was stronger on the north side of the 
town, in the part nearest the mountain of Avila 
and the Silla. The churches of the Trinity and 
Alta Gracia, which were more than a hundred and 
fifty feet in height, and of which the nave was sup- 
ported by pillars from twelve to fifteen feet in dia- 
meter, left a mass of ruins nowhere higher than five 
or six feet. The sinking of the ruins has been so 
great, that at present hardly any vestige remains 
of the pillars and columns. The barracks called El 
Qaartel de San Carlos, situated further to the 
north of the church of the Trinity, on the road to 



160 DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY. 

the customhouse de la Pastora, almost entirely dis- 
appeared. A regiment of troops of the line, which 
was assembled in it under arms to join in the pro- 
cession, was, with the exception of a few individuals, 
buried under this large building. Nine-tenths of 
the fine town of Caraccas were entirely reduced to 
ruins. The houses which did not fall, as those of 
the street of San Juan, near the Capuchin Hospital, 
were so cracked that no one could venture to live 
in them. The effects of the earthquake were not 
quite so disastrous in the southern and western parts 
of the town, between the great square and the ra- 
vine of Caraguata ; — there the cathedral, supported 
by enormous buttresses, remains standing. 

."" In estimating the number of persons killed in 
the city of Caraccas at nine or ten thousand, we do 
not include those unhappy individuals who were 
severely wounded, and perished several months after 
from want of food and proper attention. The night 
of Holy Thursday presented the most distressing 
scenes of desolation and sorrow. The thick cloud 
of dust, which rose above the ruins and darkened 
the air like a mist, had fallen again to the ground ; 
the shocks had ceased ; never was there a finer or 
quieter night, — the moon, nearly at the full, illu- 
minated the rounded summits of the Silla, and the 
serenity of the heavens contrasted strongly with the 
state of the earth, which was strewn with ruins and 
dead bodies. Mothers were seen carrying in their 
arms children whom they hoped to recall to life ; 
desolate females ran through the city in quest of a 
brother, a husband, or a friend, of whose fate they 
were ignorant, and whom they supposed to have been 
separated from them in the crowd. The people press- 

6 



INHUMATION OF THE WOUNDED. 161 

ed along the streets, which now could only be dis- 
tinguished by heaps of ruins arranged in lines. 

" All the calamities experienced in the great earth- 
quakes of Lisbon, Messina, Lima, and Riobamba, 
were repeated on the fatal day of the 26th March 
1812. The wounded, buried under the ruins, im- 
plored the assistance of the passers by w r ith loud 
cries, and more than two thousand of them were 
dug out. Never was pity displayed in a more af- 
fecting manner ; never, we may say, was it seen 
more ingeniously active, than in the efforts made to 
succour the unhappy persons whose groans reached 
the ear. There was an entire want of instruments 
adapted for digging up the ground and clearing 
away the ruins, and the people were obliged to use 
their hands for the purpose of disinterring the living. 
Those who were wounded, as well as the patients 
who had escaped from the hospitals, were placed on 
the bank of the little river of Guayra, where they 
had no other shelter than the foliage of the trees. 
Beds, linen for dressing their wounds, surgical in- 
struments, medicines, in short every thing necessary 
for their treatment, had been buried in the ruins. 
During the first days nothing could be procured, — 
not even food. Within the city water became equal- 
ly scarce. The commotion had broken the pipes of 
the fountains, and the falling in of the earth had 
obstructed the springs which supplied them. To 
obtain water it was necessary to descend as far as 
the Rio Guayra, which was considerably swelled, 
and there were no vessels for drawing it. 

u There remained to be performed towards the 
dead a duty imposed alike by piety and the dread of 
infection. As it was impossible to inter so many 

K 



162 MORAL EFFECTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE. 

thousands of bodies half buried in the ruins,, com- 
missioners were appointed to burn them. Funeral- 
piles were erected among the heaps of rubbish. 
This ceremony lasted several days. Amid so many 
public calamities, the people ardently engaged in 
the religious exercises which they thought best 
-adapted to appease the anger of heaven. Some 
walked in bodies chanting funeral-hymns, while 
others, in a state of distraction, confessed themselves 
aloud in the streets. In this city was now repeated 
what had taken place in the province of Quito af- 
ter the dreadful earthquake of the 4th February 
1797- Marriages were contracted between persons 
who for many years had neglected to sanction their 
union by the sacerdotal blessing. Children found 
parents in persons who had till then disavowed 
them ; restitution was promised by individuals who 
had never been accused of theft ; and families, who 
had long been at enmity, drew together from the 
feeling of a common evil. But while in some this 
feeling seemed to soften the heart and open it to 
compassion, it had a contrary effect on others, ren- 
dering them more obdurate and inhumane. In great 
calamities vulgar minds retain still less goodness than 
strength ; for misfortune acts like the pursuit of lite- 
rature and the investigation of nature, which exer- 
cise their happy influence only upon a few, giving 
more warmth to the feelings, more elevation to the 
mind, and more benevolence to the character. 

" Shocks so violent as these, which in the space 
of one minute overthrew the city of Caraccas, could 
not be confined to a small portion of the continent. 
Their fatal effects extended to the provinces of Vene- 
zuela, Varinas, and Maracaybo, along the coast, 



EXTENT OF DAMAGE. 163 

and were more especially felt in the mountains of 
the interior. La Guayra, Mayguetia, Antimana, 
Baruta, La Vega,, San Felipe,, and Merida, were 
almost entirely destroyed. The number of dead 
exceeded four or five thousand at La Guayra, and 
at the villa de San Felipe, near the copper-mines of 
Aroa. The earthquake would appear to have been 
most violent along a line running from E. N. E. to 
W. S. W., from Guayra and Caraccas towards the 
high mountains of Niquitas and Merida. It was 
felt in the kingdom of New Grenada, from the ra- 
mifications of the lofty Sierra of Santa Martha to 
Santa Fe de Bogota, and Honda on the banks of 
the Magdalena, 620 miles distant from Caraccas. 
In all parts it was more violent in the cordilleras of 
gneiss and mica-slate, or immediately at their base, 
than in the plains. This difference was particular- 
ly remarkable in the savannahs of Varinas and Ca- 
sanare. In the valleys of Aragua, situated between 
Caraccas and the town of San Felipe, the shocks 
were very weak. La Victoria, Maracay, and Va- 
lencia, scarcely suffered, notwithstanding the proxi- 
mity of the capital. At Valecillo, not many leagues 
distant from Valencia, the ground opened and emit- 
ted so great a mass of water that a new torrent was 
formed. The same phenomenon took place near 
Porto Cabello. On the other hand, the Lake of 
Maracaybo underwent considerable diminution. At 
Coro no commotion was felt, although the town was 
situated on the coast between other towns which suf- 
fered. The fishermen who had passed the day of the 
26th March in the island of Orchila, 130 miles N. E. 
of La Guayra, were not sensible of any shock." 
Toward the east of Caraccas the commotions were 



164 COMMOTIONS OF THE EARTH 

very violent,, especially beyond Caurimare, in the 
valley of Capaya, and as far as the meridian of Cape 
Codera, while they were very feeble on the coasts 
of New Barcelona, Cumana, and Paria, though 
these shores are known to have been formerly shaken 
by volcanic vapours. 

Fifteen or eighteen hours after the great catas^ 
trophe the ground ceased to be agitated ; but subse- 
quently to the 27th the tremblings recommenced, 
and were accompanied with very loud subterranean 
noises. Frequently not less than fifteen oscillations 
were felt in one day. On the 5th April there was 
an earthquake almost as severe as that of the 12th 
March. The surface was in continuous undulation 
during several hours, large masses of earth fell in 
the mountains, and enormous rocks were detached 
from the Silla. 

While violent agitations were experienced in the 
valley of the Mississippi, in the island of St Vin- 
cent, and in the province of Venezuela, a subterra- 
nean noise, resembling an explosion of artillery, was 
heard at Caraccas, at Calabozo, and on the banks of 
the Rio Apure, over the space of four thousand 
square leagues. This sound began at two in the 
morning of the 30th April, and was as loud on the 
coast as at the distance of eighty leagues. It was 
every where taken for the firing of guns. On the 
same day a great eruption of the volcano of the 
island of St Vincent took place. This mountain 
had not ejected lava since 1718, and hardly any 
smoke was issuing from it, when in May 1811, fre- 
quent shocks occurred, and a discharge of ashes, at- 
tended with a tremendous bellowing, followed on 
the 27th April next year. On the 30th the lava 



IN OTHER DISTRICTS. 265 

flowed, and after a course of four hours reached the 
sea. The explosions resembled alternate volleys 
of very large cannon and musketry. As the space 
between the volcano of St Vincent and the Rio 
Apure is 725 miles, these were heard at a distance 
equal to that between Vesuvius and Paris, and 
must have been propagated by the earth, and not 
by the air. 

After adducing numerous instances of the coinci- 
dence of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, Hum- 
boldt endeavours to prove that subterranean com- 
munications extend to vast distances, that the phe- 
nomena of volcanoes and earthquakes are intimately 
connected, and that the latter have certain lines of 
direction. 



166 DEPARTURE FROM CARACCAS. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Journey from Caraccas to the Lake of Valencia. 

Departure from Caraccas — La Buenavista — Valleys of San Pedro 
and the Tuy — Manterola — Zamang-tree — Valleys of Aragua — 
Lake of Valencia — Diminution of its Waters — Hot Springs — 
Jaguar — New Valencia — Thermal Waters of La Trinchera — 
Porto Cabello — Cow-tree — Cocoa-plantations — General View of 
the Littoral District of Venezuela. 

Leaving the city of Caraccas,, on their way to the 
Orinoco, our travellers slept the first night at the 
base of the woody mountains which close the valley 
toward the south-west. They followed the right bank 
of the Rio Guayra, as far as the village of Antimano, 
by an excellent road, partly scooped out of the rock. 
The mountains were all of gneiss or mica-slate. A 
little before reaching that hamlet they observed two 
large veins of gneiss in the slate, containing balls of 
granular diabase or greenstone, composed of felspar 
and hornblende, with garnet disseminated. In 
the vicinity all the orchards were full of peach-trees 
covered with flowers. Between An timano and Ajun- 
tas, they crossed the Rio Guayra seventeen times, 
and proceeded along the bottom of the valley. 
The river was bordered by a gramineous plant, the 
Gynerium saccharoides, which sometimes reaches 
the height of 32 feet, while the huts were sur- 
rounded by enormous trees of Laurus persea, 



COFFEE-PLANTATIONS. 1 67 

covered by creepers. They passed the night in a 
sugar-plantation. In a square house were nearly 
eighty negroes, lying on skins of oxen spread on the 
floor, while a dozen fires were burning in the yard, 
at which people were cooking. 

A great predilection for the culture of the coffee- 
tree was entertained in the province. The young 
plants were chiefly procured by exposing the seeds 
to germination between plantain-leaves. They were 
then sown, and produced shoots better adapted to 
bear the heat of the sun than such as spring up in 
the shade of the plantations. The tree bears flowers 
only the second year, and its blossoms last only 
twenty- four hours. The returns of the third year are 
very abundant ; at an average each plant yielding 
a pound and a half or two pounds of coffee. Hum- 
boldt remarks, that although it is not yet a century 
since the first trees were introduced at Surinam 
and in the West Indies, the produce of America 
already amounts to fifteen millions of piasters, or 
£2,437,500 sterling. 

On the 8th February the travellers set out at 
sunrise, and after passing the junction of the two 
small rivers, San Pedro and Macarao, which form 
the Rio Guayra, ascended a steep hill to the table- 
land of La Buenavista. The country here had a 
wild appearance, and was thickly wooded. The 
road, which was so much frequented that long files 
of mules and oxen met them at every step, was 
cut out of a talcose gneiss, in a state of decom- 
position. Descending from that point, they came 
upon a ravine, in which a fine spring formed several 
cascades. Here they found an abundant and diver- 
sified vegetation, consisting of arborescent ferns, 



168 VALLEY OF THE TUY. 

more than 27 feet high,, heliconias, plumerias, brow- 
nese, gigantic figs, palms, and other plants. The. 
brownea, which bears four or five hundred purple 
flowers in a single thyrsus, reaches the height of 
fifty or sixty feet. 

At the base of the wooded mountain of Higuerota 
they entered the small village of San Pedro, situated 
in a basin where several valleys meet. Plantains, 
potatoes, and coffee, were sedulously cultivated. 
The rock was mica-slate, filled with garnets, and 
containing beds of serpentine of a fine green, varied 
with spots of a lighter tint. 

Ascending from the low ground, they passed by 
the farms of Las Lagunetas and Garavatos, near the 
latter of which there is a mica-slate rock of a singu- 
lar form, — that of a ridge, or wall, crowned by a 
tower. The country is mountainous, and almost 
entirely uninhabited ; but beyond this they entered 
a fertile district, covered with hamlets and small 
towns. This beautiful region is the valley of the 
Tuy, where they spent two days at the plantation 
of Don Jose de Manterola, on the bank of the river, 
the water of which was as clear as crystal. Here 
they observed three species of sugar-cane, the old 
Creole, the Otaheitan, and the Batavian, which are 
easily distinguished, and of which the most valuable 
is the Otaheitan, as it not only yields a third more 
of juice than the Creole cane, but furnishes a much 
greater quantity of fuel. 

As this valley, like most other parts of the Spa- 
nish colonies, has its gold mine, Humboldt was de- 
sired to visit it. In the ravine leading to it an enor- 
mous tree fixed the attention of the travellers. It 
had grown on a steep declivity above a house, which 



GIGANTIC TREE. 169 

it was apprehended it might injure in its fall, should 
the earth happen to give way. It had therefore 
been burnt near the root, and cut so as to sink be- 
tween some large fig-trees, which would prevent 
it from rolling down. It was eight and a half 
feet in diameter at the lower end, four feet five 
inches at the other (the top having been burnt off), 
and one hundred and sixty feet in length. The 
rocks were mica-slate passing into talc-slate, and 
contained masses of bluish granular limestone, to- 
gether with graphite. At the place where the gold 
mine was said to have been, they found some ves- 
tiges of a vein of quartz ; but the subsidence of 
the earth, in consequence of the rain, rendered it 
impossible to make any observation. The travellers, 
however, found a recompense for their fatigues in 
the harvest of plants which they made in the thick 
forest abounding in cedraelas, browneas, and fig- 
trees. They were struck by the woody excrescences, 
which, as far as twenty feet above the ground, aug- 
ment the thickness of the latter. Some of these 
trunks were observed to be twenty- three feet in dia- 
meter near the roots. 

At the plantation of Tuy, the dip of the needle 
was 41-6°, and the intensity of the magnetic power 
was indicated by 228 oscillations in ten minutes. 
The variation of the former was 4° 30' N. E. The 
zodiacal light appeared almost every night with ex- 
traordinary brilliancy. 

On the I lth, at sunrise, they left the plantation 
of Manterola, and proceeded along the beautiful 
banks of the river. At a farm by the way they 
found a negress more than a hundred years old, 
seated before a small hut, to enjoy the benefit of the 



170 ZAMANG OF GUAYRA. 

sun's rays, the heat of which, according to her grand- 
son, kept her alive. As they drew near to Victoria 
the ground became smoother, and resembled the 
bottom of a lake, the waters of which had been 
drained off. The neighbouring hills were composed 
of calcareous tufa. Fields of corn were mingled 
with crops of sugar-canes, coffee, and plantains. 
The level of the country above the sea is only from 
576 to 640 yards ; and, except in the district of 
Quatro Villas in the island of Cuba, wheat is scarce- 
ly cultivated in large quantities in any other part 
of the equinoctial regions. La Victoria and the 
neighbouring village of San Matheo yielded 4000 
quintals, or 3622 cwt. annually. It is sown in De- 
cember, and is fit for being cut in seventy or seventy- 
five days. The grain is large and white, and the 
average produce is three or four times as much as 
in Europe. The culture of the sugar-cane, however, 
is still more productive. 

Proceeding slowly on their way, the travellers 
passed through the villages of San Matheo, Tur- 
mero, and Maracay, where every thing was indica- 
tive of prosperity. t€ On leaving the village of 
Turmero," says Humboldt, " we discover, at the 
distance of a league, an object which appears on the 
horizon like a round hillock, or a tumulus covered 
with vegetation. It is not a hill, however, nor a 
group of very close trees, but a single tree, the cele- 
brated Zamang of Guayra, known over the whole 
province for the enormous extent of its branches, 
which form a hemispherical top 614 feet in circum- 
ference. The zamang is a beautiful species of mi- 
mosa, whose tortuous branches divide by forking. 
Its slim and delicate foliage is agreeably detached on 



POPULATION. 171 

the blue of the sky. We rested a long while be- 
neath this vegetable arch. The trunk of the Guayra 
zamang, which grows on the road from Turmero 
to Maracay, is not more than 64 feet high and 
9|- feet in diameter; but its real beauty consists 
in the general form of its top. The branches stretch 
out like the spokes of a great umbrella, and all in- 
cline towards the ground, from which they uniform- 
ly remain twelve or fifteen feet distant. The cir- 
cumference of the branches or foliage is so regular, 
that I found the different diameters 205 and 198 
feet. One side of the tree was entirely stripped of 
leaves from the effect of drought, while on the other 
both foliage and flowers remained. The branches 
were covered with creeping plants. The inhabitants 
of these valleys, and especially the Indians, have a 
great veneration for the Guayra zamang, which the 
first conquerors seem to have found nearly in the 
same state as that in which we now see it. Since 
it has been attentively observed, no change has been 
noticed in its size or form. It must be at least 
as old as the dragon-tree of Orotava. Near Tur- 
mero and the Hacienda de Cura, there are other trees 
of the same species, with larger trunks ; but their 
hemispherical tops do not spread so widely." 

The valleys of Aragua at this time contained 
more than 52,000 inhabitants, on a space thirteen 
leagues in length and two in breadth ; making 2000 
to a square league, which is almost equal to the 
densest population of France. The houses were all 
of masonry, and every court contained cocoa-trees, 
rising above the habitations ; besides wheat, sugar, 
cacao, cotton, and coffee, indigo is cultivated to a 
great extent. 



172 VALLEYS OF ARAGUA. 

In this district the travellers experienced the 
greatest kindness, more especially from the persons 
with whom they had associated in Caraccas, and who 
possessed large estates in these highly- improved and 
beautiful plains. At the Hacienda de Cura they 
spent seven very agreeable days, in a small habita- 
tion surrounded by thickets, on the Lake of Valen- 
cia. Their host, Count Tovar, had begun to let 
out lands to poor persons, with the view of render- 
ing slaves less necessary to the landholders ; and 
his example was happily followed by other proprie- 
tors. Here they lived after the manner of the rich ; 
they bathed twice, slept three times, and made three 
meals in twenty-four hours. 

The valleys of Aragua form a narrow basin be- 
tween granitic and calcareous mountains of unequal 
height. On the north they are separated from the 
coast by the Sierra Mariara, and on the south from 
the steppes by the chain of Guacimo and Yusma. 
On the east and west they are bounded by hills 
of smaller elevation, the rivers from which unite 
their streams, and are collected in an inland lake, 
which has no communication with the sea. This 
body of water, named the Lake of Valencia, and 
by the Indians called Tacarigua, is larger than the 
Lake of Neufchatel, but in its general form has 
more resemblance to that of Geneva. The southern 
banks are desert, and backed by a screen of high 
mountains, while the northern shores are decked 
with the rich cultivation of the sugar-cane, coffee- 
tree, and cotton. " Paths bordered with cestrum, 
azedarach, and other shrubs always in flower, tra- 
verse the plain and join the scattered farms. Every 
house is surrounded by a tuft of trees. The ceiba, 



LAKE OF VALENCIA. 173 

with large yellow flowers,, gives a peculiar character 
to the landscape, as it unites its branches with those 
of the purple erythrina. The mixture and bril- 
liancy of the vegetable colours form a contrast to the 
unvaried tint of a cloudless sky. In the dry season, 
when the burning soil is covered with a wavy va- 
pour, artificial irrigations keep up its verdure and 
fecundity. Here and there the granitic rocks pierce 
the cultivated land, and enormous masses rise ab- 
ruptly in the midst of the plain, their bare and fis- 
sured surfaces affording nourishment to some succu- 
lent plants, which prepare a soil for future ages. 
Often on the summit of these detached hills, a fig- 
tree or a clusia, with juicy leaves, have fixed their 
roots in the rock, and overlook the landscape. With 
their dead and withered branches they seem like 
signals erected on a steep hill. The form of these 
eminences reveals the secret of their origin ; for 
when the whole of this valley was filled with water, 
and the waves beat against the base of the peaks of 
Mariara, the Devil's Wall, and the coast chain, these 
rocky hills were shoals or islets/' 

But the Lake of Valencia is remarkable for other 
circumstances than its beauties. From a careful 
examination, Humboldt was convinced that in 
very remote times, the whole valley from the 
mountains of Cocuyza to those of Torito and 
Nirgua, and from the Sierra of Mariara to that 
of Guigue, Guacimo, and La Palma, had been 
filled with water. The form of the promontories 
and their abrupt slopes indicate the shores of an 
Alpine lake. The same little shells (helicites and 
valvatae), which occur at the present day in the 
Lake of Valencia, are found in layers three or four 



174 LAKE OF VALENCIA. 

feet thick in the heart of the country., as far as Tur- 
mero and La Concesion near Victoria. These facts 
prove a retreat of the waters ; but no evidence exists 
that any considerable diminution of them has taken 
place in recent times, although within the thirty 
years preceding Humboldt's visit the gradual de- 
siccation of this great basin had excited general at- 
tention. This, however, is not dependent upon sub- 
terranean channels, as some suppose, but upon the 
effects of evaporation, increased by the changes ope- 
rated upon the surface of the country. Forests, by 
sheltering the soil from the direct action of the sun, 
diminish the waste of moisture ; consequently, when 
they are imprudently destroyed, the springs become 
less abundant, or are entirely dried up. Till the 
middle of the last century, the mountains that sur- 
round the valleys of Aragua were covered with 
woods, and the plains w r ith thickets interspersed 
with large trees. As cultivation increased the syl- 
van vegetation suffered ; and as the evaporation in 
this district is excessively powerful, the little rivers 
were dried up in the lower portion of their course 
during a great part of the year. The land that sur- 
rounds the lake being quite flat and even, the de- 
crease of a few inches in the level of the water ex- 
posed a vast extent of ground, and as it retired the 
planters took possession of the new land. 

The idea that the lake will soon entirely disap- 
pear, Humboldt treats as chimerical, considering it 
probable that a period will shortly arrive when the 
supply of water by the rivers and the evaporation 
will balance each other. The mean depth is from 77 
to 96 feet, and there are some parts not less than 224 
or 256 feet. The length is thirty-four and a half 






LAKE OF VALENCIA. 175 

miles, and the breadth four or five. The tempera- 
ture at the surface, in February, was from 73*4° to 
74-7°, which was a little lower than the mean tem- 
perature of the air. 

The Lake of Valencia is covered with beautiful 
islands to the number of fifteen, some of which are 
cultivated. It is well stocked with fish, although 
it furnishes only three kinds, which are soft and 
insipid. A small crocodile, the bava, which gene- 
rally attains the length of three or four feet, is 
very common; but it is remarkable that neither 
the lake nor any of the rivers which flow into it, 
have any large alligators, though these animals 
abound a few leagues off, in the streams that unite 
with the Apure and Orinoco, or pass directly into 
the Caribbean Sea. The islands are of gneiss, like 
the surrounding country. Of the plants which they 
produce, many have been believed to be peculiar 
to the district, such as the papaws of the lake, and 
the tomatoes of the island of Cura. The aquatic 
vegetation along the shores reminded the travellers 
of the lakes of Europe, although the species of po- 
tamogeton, chara, and equisetum, were peculiar to 
the New Continent. 

Some of the rivers that flow into this fine sheet of 
water owe their origin to hot springs, of which, how- 
ever, the travellers were able to examine only those 
of Mariara and Las Trincheras. In going up the 
Cura toward its source, the mountains of Mariara 
are seen advancing into the plain, in the form of 
an amphitheatre composed of steep rocks, crown- 
ed by serrated peaks. The central point is named 
Rincon del Diablo. These masses are composed of a 
coarse-grained granite, and are partially covered 



176 HOT SPRINGS OF MARIARA. 

with vegetation. In the hills toward the east of the 
Rincon is a ravine containing several small basins, 
the two uppermost of which are only eight inches 
in diameter, while the three lower are from two 
to three feet. Their depth varies from three to 
fifteen inches, and their temperature is from 133° 
to 138°. The hot water from these funnels forms a 
rill, which thirty feet lower has a temperature of 
only 118-4°. These springs are slightly impregnated 
with sulphuretted hydrogen gas, the fluid having 
a thin pellicle of sulphur; while a few plants in the 
vicinity are crusted with the same substance. To 
the south of this ravine, in the plain extending to the 
shores of the lake, is another fountain of the same 
kind, which issues from a crevice. The water, which 
is not so hot, collects in a basin fifteen or eighteen 
feet in diameter and three feet deep, in which the 
slaves of the neighbouring plantations wash at the 
end of the day. Here the travellers also bathed, 
and afterwards found in the surrounding woods a 
great variety of beautiful plants. 

While drying themselves in the sun, after coming 
out of the pool, a little mulatto approached them, 
bowing gravely, and making a long speech on the 
virtues of the water. Showing them his hut, he 
assured them they should find in it all the conve- 
niences of life ; but his attentions ceased the mo- 
ment he heard they had come merely to satisfy their 
curiosity, and had no intention to try the efficacy 
of the baths. They are said to be used with success 
in rheumatic swellings, old ulcers, and the dreadful 
affections of the skin called bubas. 

On the 21st February, the travellers set out from 
the Hacienda de Cura for Guacara and New Va- 
5 



NEW VALENCIA. 177 

lencia. As the heat was excessive, they preferred 
travelling by night. Near the hamlet of Punta 
Zamuro, at the foot of the lofty mountains of Las 
Viruelas, the road was bordered by large mimosas 
sixty feet in height, and with horizontal branches 
meeting at a distance of more than fifty yards,, 
so as to form a most beautiful canopy of verdure. 
The night was gloomy, and the Rincon del Diablo 
with its serrated cliffs appeared from time to time 
illuminated by the burning of the savannahs. At 
a place where the wood was thickest their horses 
were frightened by the yelling of a large jaguar, 
which seemed to follow them closely, and which 
they were informed had roamed among these moun- 
tains for three years, having escaped the pursuit of 
the most intrepid hunters. 

They spent the 22d in the house of the Marquis 
de Foro, at the village of Guacara, a large Indian 
community; and on the 23d, after visiting Mocundo, 
an extensive sugar-plantation near it, they continued 
their journey to New Valencia. They passed a 
little wood of palms, of the genus Corypha, the 
withered foliage of which, together with the camels 
feeding in the plain, and the undulating motion of 
the vapours on the arid soil, gave the landscape 
quite an African character. The sterility of the 
land increased as they advanced towards the city, 
which is said to have been founded in 1555 by 
Alonzo Diaz Moreno, and contains a population 
of six or seven thousand individuals. The streets 
are broad ; and as the houses are low, they occu- 
pied a large extent of ground. Here the termites 
or white ants were so numerous, that their excava- 
tions resembled subterranean canals, which, being 



178 HOT SPRINGS OF LA TRINCHERA. 

filled with water in rainy weather, became extreme- 
ly dangerous to the buildings. 

On the 26th they set out for the farm of Barbula, 
to examine a new road that was making from the 
city to Porto Cabello ; and on the 27th visited the 
hot springs of La Trinchera, three leagues from Va- 
lencia. These fountains were so copious as to form 
a rivulet, which, during the greatest droughts, was 
two feet deep and eighteen wide. The temperature 
of the water was 194*5°. Eggs immersed in them, 
were boiled in less than four minutes. They issued 
from granite, and were strongly impregnated with 
sulphuretted hydrogen. A sediment of carbonate 
of lime was deposited, and the most luxuriant vege- 
tation surrounded the basin, — mimosas, clusias, and 
fig-trees, pushing their roots into the water, and ex- 
tending their branches over it. Forty feet distant 
from these remarkable sources there rose others 
which were of the ordinary temperature. Hum- 
boldt remarks, that in all climates people show the 
same predilection for heat. In Iceland the first 
Christian converts would be baptized only in the 
tepid streams of Hecla; and in the torrid zone, the 
natives flock from all parts to the thermal waters. 
The river which is formed by the fountains of La 
Trinchera runs' toward the north-east, and near the 
coast expands to a considerable size. 

Descending toward Porto Cabello, the travellers 
passed through a very picturesque district, beauti- 
fied by a most luxuriant vegetation and numerous 
cascades. A stratified coarse-grained granite oc- 
curred near the road. The heat became suffocating 
as they approached the coast, and a reddish vapour 
veiled the horizon. In the evening they reached 



PORTO CABELLO. 179 

the town,, where they were kindly received by a 
French physician, M. Juliac, whose house contain- 
ed an interesting collection of zoological subjects. 
This gentleman was principal surgeon to the royal 
hospital, and was celebrated for his profound ac- 
quaintance with the yellow fever. He stated, that 
when he had treated his patients by bleeding, ape- 
rients, and acid drinks, in hospitals where the sick 
were crowded, the mortality was 33 in 100 among the 
white Creoles, and 65 in 100 among recently- disem- 
barked Europeans; but that since a stimulating 
treatment, and the use of opium, benzoin, and alco- 
holic draughts had been substituted for the old debi- 
litating method, the mortality had been reduced to 
20 in 100 among Europeans, and 10 among natives. 

The heat of Porto Cabello is not so intense. as 
that of La Guayra, the breeze being stronger and 
more regular, and the air having more room to cir- 
culate between the coast and the mountains. The 
cause of the insalubrity of the atmosphere is there- 
fore to be sought for in the exhalations that arise 
from the shore to the eastward, where at the begin- 
ning of the rainy season tertian fevers prevail, which 
easily degenerate into the continued typhoid. It has 
been observed that the mestizoes employed in the 
salt-works have a yellower skin when they have suf- 
fered several successive years from these fevers. The 
fishermen assert, that the unwholesomeness of the 
air is owing to the overflowings of the rivers and 
not to inundations of the sea, and it has been found 
that the extended cultivation along the banks of the 
Rio Estevan has rendered them less pestilential. 

The salt-works are similar to those of Araya, 
near Cumana, but the earth at Porto Cabello con. 



180 COW-TREE. 

tains less muriate of soda. As the employment is very 
unhealthy, the poorest persons alone engage in it. 
The defence of the coasts of Terra Firma was main- 
tained at six points, the castle of San Antonio at Cu- 
mana, the fortifications of La Guayra, Porto Cabello, 
Fort St Charles, and Carthagena. Next to Cartha- 
gena the most important place is Porto Cabello. The 
harbour is one of the finest in the world, resembling 
a basin or little inland lake, opening to the westward 
by a passage so narrow that only one vessel can an- 
chor at a time, and is defended by batteries. The 
upper part of it is marshy ground filled with stag- 
nant and putrid water. At the time of Humboldt's 
visit the number of inhabitants was 9000. 

Leaving Porto Cabello on the 1st March at sun- 
rise, our travellers were astonished at the number of 
boats which they saw laden with fruit for the mar- 
ket. They returned to the valleys of Aragua, and 
again stopped at the farm of Barbula. Having 
heard of a tree, the juice of which resembles milk, 
and is used as an article of food, they visited it, and 
to their surprise found that the statements which had 
been made to them with respect to it were correct. 
It is named the palo de vaca or cow-tree, and has 
oblong pointed leaves, with a somewhat fleshy fruit 
containing one or sometimes two nuts. When an 
incision is made in the trunk, there issues abundant- 
ly a thick glutinous milky fluid, perfectly free from 
acrimony, and having an agreeable smell. It is 
drunk by the negroes and free people who work 
in the plantations, and the travellers took a consi- 
derable quantity of it without the least injurious 
effect. When exposed to the air, this juice presents 
on its surface a yellowish cheesy substance, in mem- 



COW-TREE. 181 

branous layers, which are elastic, and in five or six 
days become sour, and afterwards putrefy. 

The cow-tree appears to be peculiar to the litto- 
ral cordillera, and occurs most plentifully between 
Barbula and the Lake of Maracaybo. 

"Among the many curious phenomena," says 
Humboldt, " which presented themselves to me in 
the course of my travels, I confess there were few 
by which my imagination was so powerfully affected 
as the cow- tree. All that relates to milk and to the 
cereal plants inspires us with an interest, which is not 
merely that of the physical knowledge of things, but 
which connects itself with another order of ideas and 
feelings. We can hardly imagine how the human spe- 
cies could exist without farinaceous substances, and 
without the nutritious fluid which the breast of the 
mother contains, and which is appropriated to the 
condition of the feeble infant. The amylaceous mat- 
ter of the cereal plants, — the object of religious ve- 
neration among so many ancient and modern na- 
tions, — is distributed in the seeds, and deposited in 
the roots of vegetables ; while the milk which we 
use as food appears exclusively the product of ani- 
mal organization. Such are the impressions which 
we receive in early childhood, and such is the source 
of the astonishment with which we are seized on 
first seeing the cow-tree. Magnificent forests, ma- 
jestic rivers, and lofty mountains clad in perennial 
snows, are not the objects which we here admire. 
A few drops of a vegetable fluid impress us with an 
idea of the power and fecundity of nature. On the 
parched side of a rock grows a tree with dry and 
leathery foliage, its large woody roots scarcely pene- 
trating into the ground. For several months in the 



182 CARNIVAL. 

year its leaves are not moistened by a shower ; its 
branches look as if they were dead and withered ; 
but when the trunk is bored, a bland and nourish- 
ing milk flows from it. It is at sunrise that the 
vegetable fountain flows most freely. At that time 
the blacks and natives are seen coming from all 
parts, provided with large bowls to receive the milk, 
which grows yellow and thickens at its surface. 
Some empty their vessels on the spot, while others 
carry them to their children. One imagines he sees 
the family of a shepherd who is distributing the milk 
of his flock." 

The travellers had resolved to visit the eastern 
extremity of the cordilleras of New Grenada, where 
they end in the Paramos of Tirnotes and Niquitas ; 
but learning at Barbula that this excursion would 
retard their arrival at the Orinoco thirty-five days, 
they judged it prudent to relinquish it, lest they 
should fail in the real object of their journey, that of 
ascertaining by astronomical observations the point 
at which the Rio Negro and the River of Amazons 
communicate with the former stream. They therefore 
returned to Guacara, to take leave of the family of 
the Marquis del Toro, and pass three days more on 
the shores of the Lake of Valencia. It happened to 
be the time of carnival, and all was gayety. The 
games in which the common people indulged were 
occasionally not of the most pleasant kind. Some led 
about an ass laden with water, with which they 
sprinkled the apartments wherever they found an 
open window ; while others, carrying bags full of 
the hairs of the Dolichos pruriens, which excite 
great irritation of the skin, blew them into the faces 
of those who were passing by. From Guacara they 



PLANTATIONS OF CACAO. 183 

returned to New Valencia, where they found a few 
French emigrants, the only ones they saw during 
five years in the Spanish colonies. 

The cacao-plantations have always been consider- 
ed as the principal source of the prosperity of these 
countries. The tree ( Theobroma cacao) which pro- 
duces this substance is not now found wild in the 
woods to the north of the Orinoco, and begins to be 
seen only beyond the cataracts of Atures and May- 
pures ; but it abounds near the Ventuaro, and on 
the Upper Orinoco. In the plantations it vegetates 
so vigorously, that flowers spring out even from the 
woody roots wherever they are left uncovered. It 
suffers from the north-east winds ; and the heavy 
showers that fall during the winter season, from De- 
cember to March, are very injurious to it. Great 
humidity is favourable only when it augments 
gradually, and continues a long time without in- 
terruption. In the dry season, when the leaves and 
young fruit are wetted by a heavy shower, the lat- 
ter falls to the ground. For these reasons the ca- 
cao-harvest is very uncertain, and the causes of fail- 
ure are increased by the depredations of worms, in- 
sects, birds, and quadrupeds. This branch of agri- 
culture has the disadvantage, moreover, of obliging 
the new planter to wait eight or ten years for the 
fruit of his labours, and of yielding an article of 
very difficult preservation ; but it requires a much 
less number of slaves than most others, one being 
sufficient for a thousand trees, which at an average 
yield twelve fanegas annually. It appeared pro- 
bable, that from 1800 to 1806 the yearly produce 
of the cacao-plantations of the capitania-general of 
Caraccas was at least 193,000 fanegas, or 299,200 



184 CONSUMPTION OF CACAO. 

bushels, of which the province of Caraccas furnished 
three-fourths. The crops are gathered twice a-year, 
at the end of June and of December. 

Humboldt states, as the result of numerous local 
estimates, that Europe consumes, — 

23,000,000 pounds of cacao, at 12 fr. per cwt= 27,600,000 fr. 

32,000,000 pounds of tea, at 4 fr. per lb =128,000,000 

140,000,000 pounds of coffee, at 114 fr. per cwt.= 159,000,000 
450,000,000 pounds of sugar, at 54 fr. per cwt. =243,000,000 

Total value, £23,250,000 sterling, or 558,000,000 fr. 

The late wars have had a very injurious effect on 
the cacao- trade of Caraccas; and the cultivation of 
this article seems to be gradually declining. It is as- 
serted that the new plantations are not so productive 
as the old, the trees not acquiring the same vigour, 
and the harvest being later and less abundant. This 
is supposed to be owing to exhaustion of the land ; 
but Humboldt attributes it rather to the diminu- 
tion of moisture caused by cropping.* 

In concluding his remarks on the province of Ve- 
nezuela, our author gives a general view of the soil 
and metallic productions of the districts of Aroa, 
Barquesimeto, and Carora. From the Sierra Ne- 
vada of Merida, and the Paramos of Niquitao, Bo- 
cono, and Las Rosas, the eastern Cordillera of New 
Grenada decreases so rapidly in height, that be- 
tween the ninth and tenth degrees of latitude it 
forms only a chain of hills, which separate the rivers 

* According to Macculloch, the little use made of this excellent 
beverage in England may be ascribed to the oppressiveness of the 
duties with which it has been loaded, and not to its being unsuitable 
to the public taste. "At this moment (May 1831)/' he says, 
" Trinidad and Grenada cacao is worth in bond, in the London mar- 
ket, from 24s. to 65s. a-cwt. ; while the duty is no less than 65s., 
being nearly 100 per cent, upon the finer qualities, and no less than 
230 per cent, upon those that are inferior !" — Macculloch' *s Dic- 
tionary of Commerce, art* Cacao, 



GEOLOGY OF THE DISTRICT. 185 

that join the Apure and the Orinoco from those that 
flow into the Caribbean Sea or the Lake of Valen- 
cia. On this ridge are built the towns of Nirgua, 
San Felipe,, Barquesimeto, and Tocuyo. The ground 
rises toward the south. 

In the cordillera just described, the strata usual- 
ly dip to the N.W. ; so that the waters flow in that 
direction over the ledges, forming those numerous 
torrents and rivers, the inundations caused by which 
are so fatal to the health of the inhabitants from 
Cape Codera to the Lake of Maracaybo. 

Of the streams that descend N.E. toward the coast 
of Porto Cabello and La Puenta de Hicacos, the 
most remarkable are the Tocuyo, Aroa, and Tara- 
cuy ; the valleys of which, were it not for morbid 
miasmata, would perhaps be more populous than 
those of Aragua, as the soil is prolific and the waters 
navigable. In a lateral valley, opening into that of 
the Aroa, are copper-mines ; and in the ravines 
nearer the sea are similar ores and gold- washings. 
The total produce of both amounts to a quantity 
varying from 1087 to 1358 cwts. of excellent metal. 
Indications of silver and gold have been found in 
various parts. 

The Savannahs or Llanos of Monai and Carora, 
separated from the great plains of Portuguesa and 
Calabozo by the mountainous tract of Tocuyo and 
Migua, although bare and arid, are oppressed with 
miasmata ; and Humboldt seems to think that their 
insalubrity may be owing to the disengagement of 
sulphuretted hydrogen gas. 



186 URSINE, OR HOWLING MONKEYS. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Journey across the Llanos, from Aragua to San Fernando. 

Mountains between the Valleys of Aragua and the Llanos — Their 
Geological Constitution — The Llanos of Caraccas — Route over 
the Savannah to the Rio Apure — Cattle and Deer — Vegetation 
— Calabozo — Gymnoti or Electric Eels — Indian Girl — Alligators 
and Boas — Arrival at San Fernando de Apure. 

From the chain of mountains which borders the 
Lake of Valencia toward the souths there stretches 
in the same direction a vast extent of level land, 
constituting the Llanos or Savannahs of Caraccas ; 
and from the cultivated and populous district of 
Aragua, embellished with mountains and rivers and 
teeming with vegetation, one descends into a parch- 
ed desolate plain, bounded by the horizon. On 
this route we now accompany our travellers, who 
on the 6th March left the valleys of Aragua, and 
keeping along the south-west side of the lake, pass- 
ed over a rich champaign country covered with cala- 
bashes, water-melons, and plantains. The rising of 
the sun was announced by the howling of monkeys, 
of which they saw numerous bands moving as in 
procession from one tree to another. These crea- 
tures (the Simia ursina) execute their evolutions 
with singular uniformity. When the boughs of two 
trees do not touch each other, the leader of the party 
swings himself by the tail upon the nearest twigs, 



VILLA DE CURA. 187 

the rest following in regular succession. The dis- 
tance to which their howlings may he heard was as- 
certained by Humboldt to be 1705 yards. The 
Indians assert that one always chants as leader of 
the choir; and the missionaries say that when a 
female is on the point of bringing forth,, the howl- 
ings are suspended till the moment when the young 
appears. 

The travellers passed the night at the village of 
Guigue near the lake, where they lodged with an 
old sergeant, a native of Murcia, who amused them 
with a recital of the history of the world in Latin, 
which he had learned among the Jesuits. Leaving 
this place, they began to ascend the chain of moun- 
tains which extends towards La Palma, and from 
the top of an elevated platform took their last view 
of the valleys of Aragua. The rock was gneiss with 
auriferous veins of quartz. Arriving at the hamlet 
of Maria Magdalena, they were stopped by the in- 
habitants, who wanted to force their muleteers to 
hear mass. Seven miles farther on they came to 
the Villa de Cura, situated in an arid valley almost 
destitute of vegetation. Here they remained for the 
night, and joined an assembly of nearly all the re- 
sidents in the town to admire in a magic-lantern 
a view of the great capitals of Europe. This place, 
which contains a population of four thousand, is 
celebrated for the miracles performed by an image of 
the Virgin found by an Indian in a ravine. 

Continuing to descend the southern declivity of 
the range, they passed part of the night of the 11th 
at the village of San Juan., remarkable for its hot- 
springs and the singular form of two mountains in 
the neighbourhood, called the Morros, which rise 



188 MOUNTAINS OF ARAGUA. 

like slender peaks from a wall of rocks. At two 
in the morning they continued their journey by 
Ortiz and Parapara to the Mesa de Paja. The 
ground over which they travelled forms the ancient 
shore of the Llanos; and,, as the chain has now 
been traversed, it may be interesting to present a 
brief view of its geological constitution. 

In the Sierra de Mariara, near Caraccas, the rock 
is coarse-grained granite. The valleys of Aragua, 
the shores of the Lake of Valencia, its islands, and 
the southern branch of the coast chain, are of gneiss 
and mica-slate, which are auriferous. At San Juan 
some of the rocks were gneiss passing into mica-slate. 
On the south of this place the gneiss is concealed 
beneath a deposite of serpentine, which, farther 
south, passes into or alternates with greenstone. 
This rock is now the principal one, and in the midst 
of it rise the Morros of San Juan, composed of crys- 
talline limestone of a greenish-gray colour, and 
containing masses of dark-blue indurated clay. Be- 
hind the Morros is another compact limestone con- 
taining shells. The valley that descends from San 
Juan to the Llanos is filled with trap-rocks lying 
upon green-slate. Lower down the rocks take a 
basaltic aspect. Farther south the slates disappear, 
being concealed under a trap-deposite of varied ap- 
pearance, but assuming an amygdaloidal character, 
and on the margin of the plain is seen a formation 
of clinkstone or porphyry-slate. 

The travellers now entered the basin of the Llanos. 
The sun was almost in the zenith, the ground was at 
the temperature of 118° or 122°, and the suffocating 
heat was augmented by the whirls of dust which 
incessantly arose from the surface of the steril soil. 



ENTRANCE OF THE LLANOS. 189 

All around, the plains seemed to ascend into the 
sky. The horizon in some parts was clear and dis- 
tinct, while in others it seemed undulating or blend- 
ed with the atmosphere. The trunks of palm-trees, 
stripped of their foliage, and seen from afar through 
the haze, resembled the masts of ships discovered on 
the verge of the ocean. 

In order to give some interest to the narrative of 
a journey across a tract of so monotonous an aspect, 
Humboldt presents a general view of the plains of 
America, contrasted with the deserts of Africa, and 
the fertile steppes of Asia, of which, however, the 
most striking points alone can be here taken. There 
is something awful and melancholy, he says, in the 
uniform aspect of these savannahs, where every thing 
seems motionless, and where the shadow of a cloud 
hardly ever falls for months. He even doubts whether 
the first sight of the Andes or of the Llanos excites 
most astonishment; for as mountainous countries 
have a similarity of appearance, whatever may be 
the elevation of their summits, the view of a very 
elevated range is perhaps not so striking as that of 
a boundless plain, spread out like an ocean, and 
on all sides mixing with the sky. 

It has been said that Europe has its heaths, 
Asia its steppes, Africa its deserts, and America its 
savannahs ; and these great divisions of the globe 
have been characterized by these circumstances. 
But as the term heath always supposes the existence 
of plants of that name, and as all the plains of Eu- 
rope are not heathy, the description is incorrect. Nor 
are the steppes of Asia always covered with saline 
plants, some of them being real deserts ; neither are 
the American Llanos always grassy. Instead of de- 



190 REMARKS ON DESERTS. 

signating the vast levels of these different regions 
by the nature of the plants which they produce, it 
seems proper to distinguish them into deserts, and 
steppes or savannahs, by which terms would be 
meant plains destitute of vegetation, or covered with 
grasses or small dicotyledonous plants. The savan- 
nahs of North America have been designated by the 
name of prairies or meadows ; but the phrase is 
not very applicable to pastures which are often dry. 
The Llanos and Pampas of South America are real 
steppes, displaying a beautiful verdure in the rainy 
season, but during great droughts assuming the as- 
pect of a desert. The grass is then reduced to pow- 
der, the ground cracks, and the alligators and ser- 
pents bury themselves in the mud, where they re- 
main in a state of lethargy till they are roused by the 
showers of spring. On the borders of rivulets, how- 
ever, and around the little pools of stagnant water, 
thickets of the Mauritia palm preserve a brilliant 
verdure, even during the driest part of the year. 

The principal characteristic of the savannahs of 
South America is the entire want of hills. In a 
space extending to 387 square miles, there is not 
a single eminence a foot high. These plains, how- 
ever, present two kinds of inequalities: the ban- 
cos, consisting of broken strata of sandstone or 
limestone, which stand four or five feet above the 
surface; and the mesas, composed of small flats 
or convex mounds, rising gradually to the height 
of a few yards. The uniform aspect of these flats, 
the extreme rarity of inhabitants, the fatigue of 
travelling under a burning sky amid clouds of 
dust, the continual recession of the horizon, and 
the successive appearance of solitary palms, make 



MOUNTAINS OF SOUTH AMERICA. 191 

the steppes appear far more extensive than they really 
are. It has even been imagined that the whole eastern 
side of South America, from the Orinoco and the 
Apure to the Plata and the Straits of Magellan, is 
one great level; but this is not the case. In order to 
understand their limitations it will be necessary to 
take a general view of the mountain-ranges. 

The Cordillera of the coast, where the highest 
summit is the Silla of Caraccas, and which is con- 
nected by the Paramo de las Rosas to the Nevado 
de Merida, and the Andes of New Grenada, has 
already been described. A less elevated but much 
larger group of mountains extends from the mouths 
of the Guaviare and the Meta, the source of the Ori- 
noco, the Marony, and the Essequibo, toward French 
and Dutch Guiana. This, which is named the Cor- 
dillera of Parime, may be followed for a length of 
863 miles, and is separated from the Andes of New 
Grenada by a space 276 miles in breadth. A third 
chain of mountains, which connects the Andes of 
Peru with the mountains of Brazil, is the cordillera 
of Chiguitos, dividing the rivers flowing into the 
Amazon from the tributaries of the Plata. 

These three transverse chains or groups, extend- 
ing from west to east within the limits of the torrid 
zone, are separated by level tracts forming the plains 
of Caraccas or of the Lower Orinoco, the flats of 
the Amazon and Rio Negro, and those of Bue- 
nos Ayres or La Plata. The middle basin, known 
by the colonists under the name of the bosques or 
selvas of the Amazon, is covered with trees; the 
southern, the pampas of Buenos Ayres, with grass ; 
and the northern, the llanos of Varinas and Carac- 
cas, with plants of various kinds. 



192 MOUNTAINS OF SOUTH AMERICA. 

The western coasts of South America are bor- 
dered by a wall of mountains, pierced at intervals 
by volcanic fires, and constituting the celebrated 
cordillera of the Andes, the mean height of which 
is 11,830 feet. It extends in the direction of a 
meridian, sending out two lateral branches, one in 
lat. 10° north, being that of the coast of Caraccas, 
the other in lat. 16° and 18° south, forming the 
cordillera of Chiquitos, and widening eastward in 
Brazil into vast table-lands. Between these lines 
is a group of granitic mountains, running from 3° 
to 7° north latitude, in a direction parallel to the 
equator, but not united to the Andes. These three 
chains have no active volcanoes, and none of their 
summits enter the line of perpetual snow. They are 
separated by plains, which are closed toward the 
west and open toward the east; and they are so 
low, that were the Atlantic to rise 320 feet at the 
mouth of the Orinoco and 1280 feet at the mouth 
of the Amazon, more than the half of South Ame- 
rica would be covered, and the eastern declivity of 
the Andes would become a shore of the ocean. 

We now accompany the travellers on their route 
from the northern side of the Llanos to the banks 
of the Apure, in the province of Varinas. After 
passing two nights on horseback, they arrived at a 
little farm called El Cayman, where was a house 
surrounded by some small huts covered with reeds 
and skins. They found an old negro who had the 
management of the farm during his master's ab- 
sence. Although he told them of herds composed 
of several thousand cows, they asked in vain for 
milk, and were obliged to content themselves with 
some muddy and fetid water drawn from a neigh- 

2 



ALLIGATOR — MIRAGE, 193 

bouring pool, of which they contrived to drink by 
using a linen cloth as a filter. When the mules 
were unloaded, they were set at liberty to go and 
search for water, and the strangers following them 
came upon a copious reservoir surrounded with 
palm-trees. Covered with dust and scorched by 
the sandy wind of the desert, they plunged into the 
pool, but had scarcely begun to enjoy its coolness 
when the noise of an alligator floundering in the mud 
induced them to make a precipitate retreat. Night 
coming on, they wandered about in search of the farm 
without succeeding in finding it, and at length re- 
solved to seat themselves under a palm-tree, in a dry 
spot surrounded by short grass, when an Indian, who 
had been on his round collecting the cattle, coming 
up on horseback, was persuaded, though not without 
difficulty, to guide them to the house. At two in the 
morning they set off, with the view of reaching Cala- 

The aspect of the country continued 

was no moonlight, but the great 

illumined part of the terrestrial 

let out. As the sun ascended, the 

irage presented themselves in all 
their moaincatioiis. The little currents of air that 
passed along the ground had so variable a tem- 
perature, that in a herd of wild cows some appeared 
with their legs raised from the surface, while others 
rested upon it. The objects were generally sus- 
pended, but no inversion was observed. At sunrise 
the plains assumed a more animated appearance; 
the horses, mules, and oxen, which graze on them 
in a state of freedom, after having reposed during 
the night beneath the palms, now assembled in 
crowds. As the travellers approached Calabozo, they 



194 



VEGETATION OF THE LLANOS. 



saw troops of small deer feeding in the midst of the 
cattle. These animals, which are called matacani, 
are a little larger than the roe of Europe, and have 
a sleek fawn-coloured pile, spotted with white. Some 
of them were entirely of the latter hue. Their flesh 
is good ; and their number is so great that a trade 
in their skins might be carried on with advantage, 
but the inhabitants are too indolent to engage in 
any active occupation. 

These steppes were principally covered with 
grasses of the genera kittingia, cenchrus, and pas- 
palum, which at that season scarcely attain a height 
of nine or ten inches near Calabozo and St Jerome 
del Pirital, although on the banks of the Apure 
and Portuguesa they rise to the length of four feet. 
Along with these were mingled some turnerse, mal- 
vacese, and mimosa?. The pastures are richest on 
the banks of the rivers, and under the shad r 
rypha palms. These trees were singularly uni 
size ; their height being from twenty-one to tv^ 
five feet, and their diameter from eight to ten 
The wood is very hard, and the fan-like leav 
used for roofing the huts scattered over the plains. 
A few clumps of a species of rhopala occur here and 
there. 

The philosophers suffered greatly from the heat in 
crossing the Mesa de Calabozo. Whenever the wind 
blew, the temperature rose to 104° or 106°, and the 
air was loaded with dust. The guides advised them 
to fill their hats with the rhopala leaves, to prevent 
the action of the solar rays on the head, and from 
this expedient they derived considerable benefit. 

At Calabozo they experienced the most cordial 
hospitality from the administrator of the Real Ha- 



CALABOZO CATTLE. 195 

cienda, Don Miguel Cousin. The town, which is 
situated between the Guarico and the Urituco, has 
a population of 5000. The principal wealth of the 
inhabitants consists of cattle, of which it was com- 
puted that there were 98,000 in the neighbouring 
pastures. M. Depons estimates the number in the 
plains, extending from the mouths of the Orinoco to 
the Lake of Maracaybo, at 1,200,000 oxen, 180,000 
horses, and 90,000 mules ; and in the Pampas of 
Buenos Ayres,it is believed that there are 12,000,000 
of cows and 3,000,000 of horses, not including cat- 
tle which have no acknowledged owner. In the 
Llanos of Caraccas, the richer proprietors of the great 
hatos, or cattle- farms, brand 14,000 head every 
year, and sell 5000 or 6000. The exportation from 
the whole capitania-general amounts annually to 
174,000 skins of oxen and 11,500 of goats, for the 
West India Islands alone. This stock was first in- 
troduced about 1548 by Christoval Rodriguez. They 
are of the Spanish breed, and their disposition is so 
gentle that a traveller runs no risk of being attacked 
or pursued by them. The horses are also descended 
from ancestors of the same country, and are gene- 
rally of a brown colour. There were no sheep in the 
plains. 

Humboldt remarks, that when we hear of the 
prodigious numbers of oxen, horses, and mules, 
spread over the plains of America, we forget that 
in civilized Europe the aggregate amount is not less 
surprising. According to M. Peuchet, France feeds 
6,000,000 of the large horned class; and in the 
Austrian monarchy, the oxen, cows, and calves, are 
estimated by Mr Lichtenstein at about 13,400,000. 

At Calabozo, in the midst of the Llanos, the tea* 



196 



ELECTRIC EELS. 



vellers found an electrical apparatus nearly as com- 
plete as those of Europe, made by a person who 
had never seen any such instrument, had received 
no instructions, and was acquainted with the phe- 
nomena of electricity only by reading the Trea^ 
tise of Sigaud de la Fond, and Franklin's Memoirs. 
Next to this piece of mechanism, the objects that ex- 
cited the greatest interest were the electrical eels, or 
gymnoti, which abound in the basins of stagnant 
water and the confluents of the Orinoco. The dread 
of the shocks given by these animals is so great 
among the common people and Indians, that for 
some time no specimens could be procured, and one 
which was at length brought to them, afforded very 
unsatisfactory results. 

On the 19th March, at an early hour, they set 
off for the village of Rastro de Abaxo, whence 
they were conducted by the natives to a stream 
which, in the dry season, forms a pool of muddy 
water surrounded by trees. It being very difficult 
to catch the gymnoti with nets, on account of their 
extreme agility, it was resolved to procure some by in- 
toxicating or benumbing them with the roots of cer- 
tain plants, which when thrown into the water pro- 
duce that effect. At this juncture the Indians in- 
formed them that they would fish with horses, and 
soon brought from the savannah about thirty of these 
animals, which they drove into the pool. 

" The extraordinary noise caused by the horses' 
hoofs makes the fishes issue from the mud, and ex- 
cites them to combat. These yellowish and livid 
eels, resembling large aquatic snakes, swim at the 
surface of the water, and crowd under the bellies of 
the horses and mules. The struggle between ani- 



FISHING WITH HORSES. 197 

mals of so different an organization affords a very 
interesting sight. The Indians, furnished with har- 
poons and long slender reeds, closely surround the 
pool. Some of them climb the trees, whose branches 
stretch horizontally over the water. By their wild 
cries and their long reeds, they prevent the horses 
from coming to the edge of the basin. The eels, 
stunned by the noise, defend themselves by re- 
peated discharges of their electrical batteries, and 
for a long time seem likely to obtain the vic- 
tory. Several horses sink under the violence of the 
invisible blows which they receive in the organs 
most essential to life, and, benumbed by the force 
and frequency of the shocks, disappear beneath the 
surface. Others, panting, with erect mane, and 
haggard eyes expressive of anguish, raise themselves 
and endeavour to escape from the storm which over- 
takes them, but are driven back by the Indians. 
A few, however, succeed in eluding the active vigi- 
lance of the fishers ; they gain the shore, stumble at 
every step, and stretch themselves out on the sand^ 
exhausted with fatigue, and having their limbs be- 
numbed by the electric shocks of the gymnoti. 

" In less than five minutes two horses were killed. 
The eel, which is five feet long, presses itself against 
the belly of the horse, and makes a discharge along 
the whole extent of its electric organ. It attacks at 
once the heart, the viscera, and the cseliac plexus of 
the abdominal nerves. It is natural that the effect 
which a horse experiences should be more powerful 
than that produced by the same fish on man, when 
he touches it only by one of the extremities. The 
horses are probably not killed but only stunned ; 
they are drowned from the impossibility of rising 



198 DESCRIPTION OF THE 

amid the prolonged struggle between the other horses 
and eels." 

The gymnoti at length dispersed, and approached 
the edge of the pool, when five of them were taken 
by means of small harpoons fastened to long cords. 
A few more were caught towards evening, and there 
was thus obtained a sufficient number of specimens 
on which to make experiments. The results of 
Humboldt's observations on these animals may be 
stated briefly as follows : — 

The gymnotus is the largest electrical fish known, 
some of those measured by him being from 5 feet 4 
inches to 5 feet 7 inches in length. One, 4 feet 1 
inch long, weighed 15f Troy pounds, and its trans- 
verse diameter was 3 inches 7<| lines. The colour 
was a fine olive-green ; the under part of the head 
yellow mingled with red. Along the back are two 
rows of small yellow spots, each of which contains 
an excretory aperture for the mucus, with which 
the skin is constantly covered. The swimming- 
bladder is of large size, and before it is situated 
another of smaller dimensions ; the former separated 
from the skin by a mass of fat, and resting upon the 
electric organs, which occupy more than two-thirds 
of the fish. 

It would be rash to expose one's self to the first 
shocks of a very large individual, — the pain and 
numbness which follow in such a case being ex- 
tremely violent. When in a state of great weak- 
ness, the animal produces in the person who touches 
it a twitching, which is propagated from the hand 
to the elbcw ; a kind of internal vibration lasting 
two or three seconds, and followed by painful torpi- 
dity, being felt after every stroke. Theelectric energy 



GYMNOTUS ELECTRICUS. 199 

depends upon the will of the creature,, and it directs 
it toward the point where it feels most strongly irri- 
tated. The organ acts only under the immediate 
influence of the brain and heart ; for, when one of 
them was cut through the middle, the fore part of the 
body alone gave shocks. Its action on man is trans- 
mitted and intercepted by the same substances that 
transmit and intercept the electrical current of a 
conductor charged by a Leyden jar or a Voltaic pile. 
In the water the shock can be conveyed to a con- 
siderable distance. No spark has ever been observed 
to issue from the body of the eel when excited. 

The gymnoti are objects of dread to the natives, 
and their presence is considered as the principal 
cause of the want of fish in the pools of the Llanos. 
All the inhabitants of the waters avoid them ; and 
the Indians asserted that when they take young al- 
ligators and these animals in the same net, the latter 
never display any appearance of wounds, because 
they disable their enemies before they are attacked 
by them. It became necessary to change the di- 
rection of a road near Urituco, solely because they 
were so numerous in a river that they killed many 
mules in the course of fording it. 

On the 24th March the travellers left Calabozo, 
and advanced southward. As they proceeded they 
found the country more dusty and destitute of 
herbage. The palm-trees gradually disappeared. 
From eleven in the morning till sunset the ther- 
mometer kept at 95°. Although the air was calm 
at the height of eight or ten feet, the ground was 
swept by little currents which raised clouds of dust. 
About four in the afternoon, they observed in the 
savannah a young Indian girl, twelve or thirteen 



200 INDIAN GIRL — CROCODILES. 

years of age, quite naked, lying on her back, ex- 
hausted with fatigue and thirst, and with her eyes, 
nostrils, and mouth, filled with dust. Her breath- 
ing was stertorous, and she was unable to answer 
the questions put to her. Happily one of the mules 
was laden with water, the application of which to 
her face aroused her. She was at first frightened, 
but by degrees took courage, and conversed with 
the guides. As she could not be prevailed upon to 
mount the beasts of burden, nor to return to Urituco, 
she was furnished with some water j upon which she 
resumed her way, and was soon separated from her 
preservers by a cloud of dust. 

In the night they forded the Rio Urituco, which 
is filled with crocodiles remarkable for their ferocity, 
although those of the Rio Tisnao in the neighbour- 
hood are not at all dangerous. They were shown 
a hut or shed, in which a singular scene had been 
witnessed by their host of Calabozo, who, having 
slept in it upon a bench covered with leather, was 
awakened early in the morning by a violent shak- 
ing, accompanied with a horrible noise. Presently 
an alligator two or three feet long issued from under 
the bed, and darted at a dog lying on the threshold, 
but missing him ran toward the river. When the 
spot where the bench stood was examined, the dried 
mud was found turned up to a considerable depth, 
where the alligator had lain in its state of torpidity 
or summer sleep. The hut being situated on the 
edge of a pool, and inundated during part of the 
year, the animal had no doubt entered at that 
period and concealed itself in the mire. The In- 
dians often find enormous boas, or water-serpents, 
in the same lethargic state. 



MESA DE PAVONES. 201 

On the 25th March they passed over the smooth- 
est part of the steppes of Caraccas, the Mesa de Pa- 
vones. As far as the eye could reach, no object 
fifteen inches high could be discovered excepting 
cattle, of which they met some large herds accom- 
panied by flocks of the crotophaga ani } a bird of a 
black colour with olive reflections. They were 
exceedingly tame, and perched upon the quadrupeds 
in search of insects. 

Wherever excavations had been made, they found 
the rock to be old red sandstone or conglomerate, in 
which were observed fragments of quartz, kiesel- 
schiefer, and lydian stone. The cementing clay is 
ferruginous, and often of a very bright red. This 
formation, which covers an extent of several thou- 
sand square leagues, rests on the northern margin 
of the plains upon transition- slate, and to the south 
upon the granites of the Orinoco. 

After wandering a long time on the desert and 
pathless savannahs of the Mesa de Pavones, they 
were agreeably surprised to find a solitary farm-house 
surrounded with gardens and pools of clear water. 
Farther on they passed the night near the village 
of San Geronymo del Guyaval, situated on the 
banks of the Rio Guarico, which joins the Apure. 
The ecclesiastic, who was a young man, and had no 
other habitation than his church, received them in 
the kindest manner. Crossing the Guarico they en- 
camped in the plain, and early in the morning pur- 
sued their way over low grounds which are often 
inundated. On the 27th they arrived at the Villa 
de San Fernando, and terminated their journey 
over the Llanos. 



202 SAN FERNANDO DE APURE. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Voyage down the Rio Apure. 

San Fernando — Commencement of the Rainy Season — Progress of 
Atmospherical Phenomena — Cetaceous Animals — Vo} T age down 
the Rio Apure — Vegetation and Wild Animals— Crocodiles, 
Chiguires, and Jaguars — Don Ignacio and Donna Isabella — Wa- 
ter-fowl — Nocturnal Howlings in the Forest — Caribe-Fish — Ad- 
venture with a Jaguar — Manatees — Mouth of the Rio Apure. 

The town of San Fernando, which was founded 
only in 1789* is advantageously situated on a large 
navigable river, the Apure, a tributary of the 
Orinoco, near the mouth of another stream which 
traverses the whole province of Varinas, all the 
productions of which pass through it on their way 
to the coast. It is during the rainy season, when 
the rivers overflow their banks and inundate a 
vast extent of country, that commerce is most ac- 
tive. At this period the savannahs are covered with 
water to the depth of twelve or fourteen feet, and 
present the appearance of a great lake, in the midst 
of which the farm-houses and villages are seen ris- 
ing on islands scarcely elevated above the surface. 
Horses, mules, and cows, perish in great numbers, 
and afford abundant food to the zamuros or carrion 
vultures, as well as to the alligators. The inhabit- 
ants, to avoid the force of the currents, and the 
danger arising from the trees carried down by them, 



INTENSE HEAT THUNDER. 203 

instead of ascending the course of the rivers, find it 
safer to cross the flats in their boats. 

San Fernando is celebrated for the excessive heat 
which prevails there during the greater part of the 
year. The travellers found the white sand of the 
shores, wherever it was exposed to the sun, to have 
a temperature of 126*5°, at two in the afternoon. 
The thermometer, raised eighteen inches above the 
sand, indicated 109° ; and at six feet, 101*7°. The 
temperature of the air in the shade was 97°. These 
observations were made during a dead calm, and 
when the wind began to blow, the heat increased 
three degrees. 

On the 28th March, Humboldt and his compa- 
nion being on the shore at sunrise, heard the thun- 
der rolling all around, although as yet there were 
only scattered clouds, advancing in opposite direc- 
tions toward the zenith. Deluc's hygrometer was 
at 53°, the thermometer stood at 74*7°> and the elec- 
trometer gave no particular indication. As the clouds 
mustered, the blue of the sky changed to deep azure, 
and then to gray; and when it was completely overcast 
the thermometer rose several degrees. Although a 
heavy rain fell, the travellers remained on the 
shore to observe the electrometer. When it was 
held at the height of six feet from the ground, the 
pith-balls generally separated only a few seconds 
before the lightning was seen. The separation was 
four lines. The electric charge remained the same 
for several minutes, and there were repeated oscil- 
lations from positive to negative. Toward the end 
of the storm the west wind blew with great impe- 
tuosity, and when the clouds dispersed the thermo- 
meter fell to 71*6°. 



204 PROGRESS OF ATMOSPHERIC 

Humboldt states,, that he enters into these details 
because Europeans usually confine themselves to a 
description of the impressions made on their minds 
by the solemn spectacle of a tropical thunder-storm ; 
and because, in a country where the year is divided 
into two great seasons of drought and rain, it is in- 
teresting to trace the transition from the one to the 
other. In the valleys of Aragua, he had from the 
18th of February observed clouds forming in the 
evening, and in the beginning of March the ac- 
cumulation of vesicular vapours became visible. 
Flashes of lightning were seen in the south, and 
at sunset Volta's electrometer regularly display- 
ed positive indications, the separation of the pith- 
balls being from three to four lines. After the 26th 
of the latter month, the electrical equilibrium of the 
atmosphere seemed broken, although the hygrome- 
ter still denoted great dryness. 

The following is an account of the atmospheric 
phenomena in the inland districts to the east of the 
cordilleras of Merida and New Grenada, in the 
Llanos of Venezuela, and the Rio Meta, from the 
fourth to the tenth degree of north latitude, where- 
ever the rains continue from May to October, and 
consequently include the period of the greatest heat, 
which is in July and August : — ce Nothing can equal 
the purity of the atmosphere from December to Fe- 
bruary. The sky is then constantly without clouds, 
and should one appear, it is a phenomenon that 
occupies all the attention of the inhabitants. The 
breeze from the east and north-east blows with vio- 
lence. As it always carries with it air of the same 
temperature, the vapours cannot become visible 
through refrigeration. Towards the end of Febru- 



PHENOMENA IN THE INTERIOR. 205 

ary and the beginning of March the blue of the sky- 
is less intense ; the hygrometer gradually indicates 
greater humidity ; the stars are sometimes veiled 
by a thin stratum of vapours ; their light ceases to 
be tranquil and planetary ; and they are seen to 
sparkle from time to time at the height of 20° above 
the horizon. At this period the breeze diminishes 
in strength, and becomes less regular, being more 
frequently interrupted by dead calms. Clouds ac- 
cumulate towards the south-east, appearing like dis- 
tant mountains with distinct outlines. From time 
to time they are seen to separate from the horizon, 
and traverse the celestial vault with a rapidity which 
has no correspondence with the feebleness of the 
wind that prevails in the lower strata of the air. 
At the end of March the southern region of the at- 
mosphere is illuminated by small electric explosions, 
like phosphorescent gleams confined to a single group 
of vapours. From this period the breeze shifts at 
intervals, and for several hours, to the west and 
south-west, affording a sure indication of the ap- 
proach of the rainy season, which on the Orinoco 
commences about the end of April. The sky begins 
to be overcast, its azure colour disappears, and a gray 
tint is uniformly diffused over it. At the same time 
the heat of the atmosphere gradually increases, and 
instead of scattered clouds the whole vault of the 
heavens is overspread with condensed vapours. The 
howling-monkeys begin to utter their plaintive 
cries long before sunrise. The atmospheric electri- 
city which, during the period of the greatest drought, 
from December to March, had been almost con- 
stantly in the daytime from 1*7 to 2 lines to Volta's 
electrometer, becomes extremely variableafter March. 






206 ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA. 

During whole days it appears null, and again, for 
some hours, the pith-balls of the electrometer diverge 
from three to four lines. The atmosphere, which 
in the torrid as in the temperate zone is generally 
in a state of positive electricity, passes alternately, 
in the course of eight or ten minutes, to the negar 
tive state. The rainy season is that of thunder- 
storms ; and yet I have found, from numerous ex- 
periments made during three years, that at this sea- 
son the electric tension is less in the lower regions 
of the atmosphere. Are thunder-storms the effect 
of this unequal change of the different superimposed 
strata of the air ? What prevents the electricity 
from descending towards the earth in a stratum of 
air which has become more humid since the month 
of March ? At this period the electricity, in place 
of being diffused through the whole atmosphere, 
w r ould seem to be accumulated on the outer envelope 
at the surface of the clouds. According to M. Gay 
Lussac, it is the formation of the cloud itself that 
carries the fluid toward the surface. The storm 
rises in the plains two hours after the sun passes 
through the meridian, and therefore shortly after 
the period of the maximum of the diurnal heat in 
the tropics. In the inland districts it is exceedingly 
rare to hear thunder at night or in the morning, 
nocturnal thunder-storms being peculiar to certain 
valleys of rivers which have a particular climate/' 

It may be interesting to present a very brief state- 
ment of Humboldt's explanation of these phenomena: 
—The season of rains and thunder in the northern 
equinoctial zone coincides with the passage of the sun 
through the zenith of the place, the cessation of the 
breezes or north-east winds, and the frequency of 



ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA. 207 

calms, and furious currents of the atmosphere from 
the south-east and south-west, accompanied with a 
cloudy sky. While the breeze from the north-east 
blows, it prevents the atmosphere from being satu- 
rated with moisture. The hot and loaded air of the 
torrid zone rises and flows off again towards the 
poles, while inferior currents from these last, bring- 
ing drier and colder strata, take the place of the 
ascending columns. In this manner the humidity, 
being prevented from accumulating, passes off to- 
wards the temperate and colder regions, so that the 
sky is always clear. When the sun, entering the 
northern signs, rises towards the zenith, the breeze 
from the north-east softens, and at length ceases; 
this being the season at which the difference of 
temperature between the tropics and the contigu- 
ous zone is least. The column of air resting on 
the equinoctial zone becomes replete with vapours, 
because it is no longer renewed by the current 
from the pole ; clouds form in this atmosphere, sa- 
turated and cooled by the effects of radiation and 
the dilatation of the ascending air, which increases 
its capacity for heat in proportion as it is rarefied. 
Electricity accumulates in the higher regions in con- 
sequence of the formation of the vesicular vapours, 
the precipitation of which is constant during the 
day, but generally ceases at night. The showers 
are more violent, and accompanied with electrical 
explosions, shortly after the maximum of the diur- 
nal heat. These phenomena continue until the sun 
enters the southern signs, when the polar current is 
re-established, because the difference between the 
heat of the equinoctial and temperate regions is daily 
increasing. The air of the tropics being thus re- 






208 VOYAGE DOWN THE APURE. 

newed, the rains cease, the vapours are dissolved, 
and the sky resumes its azure tint. 

At San Fernando, Humboldt observed in the 
river long files of cetaceous animals, resembling the 
common porpoise. The crocodiles seemed to dislike 
them, and dived whenever they approached. They 
were three or four feet long, and appear to be 
peculiar to the great streams of South America, as 
he saw some of them above the cataracts of the 
Orinoco, whither they could not have ascended from 
the sea. 

The rainy season had now commenced, and as 
the way to that river by land lies across an un- 
healthy and uninteresting flat, they preferred the 
longer way by the Rio Apure, and embarked in a 
large canoe or lancha, having a pilot and four In- 
dians for crew. A cabin was constructed in the 
stern, of sufficient size to hold a table and benches, 
and covered with corypha-leaves. They put on board 
a stock of provisions for a month, while the capuchin 
missionary, with whom they had lodged during 
their stay, supplied them with wine, oranges, and 
tamarinds. Fishing-instruments, fire-arms, and some 
casks of brandy, for bartering with the natives, were 
added to their store. On the 30th March, at four 
in the afternoon, they left San Fernando, accompa- 
nied by Don Nicolas Sopo, brother-in-law of the 
governor of the province. The river abounds in fish, 
manatees, and turtles, and its banks are peopled by 
numberless birds, of which the pauxi and guacha- 
raca are the most useful to man. Passing the mouth 
of the Apurito, they coasted the island of the same 
name, formed by the Apure and Guarico, and which 
is seventy-six miles in length. On the banks they 
6 



WILD ANIMALS. 209 

saw huts of the Yaruroes, who live by hunting and 
fishing, and are very skilful in killing jaguars, the 
skins of which they dispose of in the Spanish vil- 
lages. The night was passed at Diamante, a small 
sugar-plantation. 

On the 31st a contrary wind obliged them to re- 
main on shore till noon, when they embarked, and 
as they proceeded found the river gradually widen- 
ing ; one of its banks being generally sandy and bar- 
ren, the other higher and covered with tall trees. 
Sometimes, however, it was bordered on both sides 
by forests, and resembled a straight canal 320 yards 
in breadth. Bushes of sauso (Hermesia castaneifo- 
lid) formed along the margins a kind of hedge about 
four feet high, in which the jaguars, tapirs, and pe- 
caris, had made openings for the purpose of drink- 
ing ; and as these animals manifest little fear at the 
approach of a boat, the travellers had the pleasure 
of viewing them as they walked slowly along the 
shore, until they disappeared in the forest. When 
the sauso-hedge was at a distance from the current, 
crocodiles were often seen in parties of eight or ten, 
stretched out on the sand motionless, and with their 
jaws opened at right angles. These monstrous rep- 
tiles were so numerous, that throughout the whole 
course of the river there were usually five or six in 
view, although the waters had scarcely begun to rise, 
and hundreds were still buried in the mud of the 
savannahs. A dead individual which they found 
was 17 feet 9 inches long, and another, a male, 
was more than 23. This species is not a cay- 
man or alligator, but a real crocodile, with feet 
dentated on the outer edge like that of the Nile. 
The Indians informed them, that scarcely a year 

N 



210 CROCODILES AND CHIGUIRES. 

passes at San Fernando without two or three per- 
sons being drowned by them, and related the his- 
tory of a young girl of Urituco who, by singular 
presence of mind, made her escape from one. 
Finding herself seized and carried into the water, 
she felt for the eyes of the animal, and thrust her 
fingers into them; when the crocodile let her loose, 
after biting oif the lower part of her left arm. Not- 
withstanding the quantity of blood which she lost, 
she was still able to reach the shore by swimming 
with the right hand. Mungo Park's guide, Isaaco, 
effected his preservation from a crocodile by employ- 
ing the same means. The motions of these animals 
are abrupt and rapid when they attack an object, al- 
though they move very slowly when not excited. In 
running they make a rustling noise, which seems to 
proceed from their scales, and appear higher on their 
legs than when at rest, at the same time bending the 
back. They generally advance in a straight line, but 
can easily turn when they please. They swim with 
great facility, even against the most rapid current. 
On the Apure they seemed to live chiefly on the chi- 
guires (Cavia capybard), which feed in herds on the 
banks, and are of the size of our pigs. These crea- 
tures have no weapons for defence, and are alter- 
nately the prey of the jaguars on land and of the 
crocodiles in the water. 

Stopping below the mouth of the Cano de la 
Figuera, in a sinuosity called La Vuelta del Joval, 
they measured the velocity of the current at its sur- 
face, which was only 3*4 feet in a second. Here 
they were surrounded by chiguires, swimming like 
dogs, with the head and neck out of the water. 
A large crocodile, which was sleeping on the shore 



JAGUAR. 213 

in the midst of a troop of these animals, awoke at 
the approach of the canoe, and moved slowly into 
the stream without frightening the others. Near 
the Joval every thing assumed a wild and awful 
aspect. Here they saw an enormous jaguar stretched 
beneath the shade of a large zamang or mimosa. It 
had just killed a chiguire, which it held with one 
of its paws, while the zamuro- vultures were assem- 
bled in flocks around it. It w r as curious to observe 
the mixture of boldness and timidity which these 
birds exhibited, for although they advanced within 
two feet of the tiger, they instantly shrunk back at 
the least motion which he made. In order to examine 
more nearly their manners, the travellers went into 
the little boat ; when the tyrant of the forest with- 
drew behind the sauso-bushes, leaving his victim, 
which the vultures in the mean time attempted to 
devour, but were soon put to flight by his rushing 
into the midst of them.* 

* In the province of Tucuman, the common mode of killing the 
jaguar is to trace him to his lair, by the wool left on the bushes, if 
he has carried off a sheep, or by means of a dog 1 trained for the pur- 
pose. On finding the enemy the gaucho puts himself into a position 
for receiving him on the point of a bayonet or spear, at the first 
spring which he makes, ana thus waits until the dogs drive him out ; 
an exploit which he performs with, such coolness and dexterity that 
there is scarcely an instance of failure. " In a recent instance, re- 
lated by our capitaz, the business was not so quickly completed. 
The animal lay stretched at full length on the ground, like a gorged 
cat. Instead of showing anger and attacking his enemies with fur}', 
he was playful, and disposed rather to parley with the dogs with 
good humour than to take their attack in sober earnestness. He 
was now fired upon, and a ball lodged in his shoulder; on which he 
sprung so quickly on his watching assailant, that he not only buried 
the bayonet in his body, but tumbled over the capitaz who held it, 
and they floundered on the ground together, the man being com- 
pletely in his clutches. c I thought,' said the brave fellow, ' I was 
no longer a capitaz, while I held my arm up to protect my throat, 
which the animal seemed in the act of seizing ; but when I expected 
to feel his fangs in my flesh, the green fire of his eyes which blazed 



214 JAGUAR-HUNTER. 

Continuing to descend the river, they met with 
a great herd of chiguires that the tiger had dis- 
persed, and from which he had selected his prey. 
These animals seemed not to be afraid of men, for 
they saw the travellers land without agitation, but 
the sight of a dog put them to flight They ran so 
slowly that the people succeeded in catching two 
of them. It is the largest of the Glires or gnaw- 
ing animals. Its flesh has a disagreeable smell of 
musk, although hams are made of it in the country, 
which are eaten during Lent; as this quadruped, 
according to ecclesiastical zoology, is esteemed a fish. 

The travellers passed the night as usual in the 
open air, although in a plantation, the proprietor of 
which, a jaguar-hunter, half-naked and as brown 
as a Zambo, prided himself on being of the Euro- 
pean race, and called his wife and daughter, who 
were as slightly clothed as himself, Donna Isabella 
and Donna Manuela. Humboldt had brought a 
chiguire ; but his host assured him such food was not 
fit for white gentlemen like them, at the same time 
offering him venison. As this aspiring personage 
had neither house nor hut, he invited the strangers to 
sling their hammocks near his own, between two 
trees ; which they accordingly did. They soon found 
reason, however, to regret that they had not obtained 
better shelter ; for after midnight a thunder-storm 
came on, which wetted them to the skin. Donna Isa- 
bella's cat had perched on one of the trees, and fell into 
a cot, the inmate of which imagined he was attacked 
by some wild beast, and could hardly be quieted. 

upon me, flashed out in a moment. He fell on me, and expired at 
the very instant I thought myself lost for ever.' " — Captain An- 
drews* Travels in South America, vol. i. p. 219. 



SCENERY OF THE APURE. 215 

At sunrise, the lodgers took leave of Don Ignacio 
and his lady, and proceeded on their voyage. The 
weather was a little cooler, the thermometer having 
fallen from 86° to J5 °, but the temperature of the 
river continued at 79° or 80°. One might imagine 
that on smooth ground, where no eminence can be 
distinguished, the stream would have hollowed out 
an even bed for itself; but this is by no means the 
case; the two banks not opposing equal resistance 
to the water. Below the Joval the mass of the cur- 
rent is a little wider, and forms a perfectly straight 
channel, margined on either side by lofty trees. It 
was here about 290 yards broad. They passed a 
low island densely covered by flamingoes, roseate 
spoonbills, herons, and water-hens, which presented 
a most diversified mixture of colours. On the right 
bank they found a little Indian mission, consisting 
of sixteen huts constructed of palm-leaves, and inha- 
bited by a tribe of the Guamoes. These Christians 
were unable to furnish them with the provisions 
which they wanted, but hospitably offered them dried 
fish and water. The night was spent on a bare and 
very extensive beach. The forest being impenetrable, 
they had great difficulty in obtaining dry wood to 
light fires for the purpose of keeping off the wild 
beasts. But the night was calm, with beautiful 
moonlight. Finding no tree on the banks, they stuck 
their oars in the sand, and suspended their hammocks 
upon them. About eleven there arose in the wood so 
terrific a noise that it was impossible to sleep. The 
Indians distinguished the cries of sapajous, alouates, 
jaguars, cougars, pecaris, sloths, carassows, panakas, 
and other gallinaceous birds. When the tigers ap- 
proached the edge of the forest, a dog which the 



216 NOCTURNAL HOWLINGS. 

travellers had began to howl and seek refuge under 
their cots. Sometimes, after a long silence, the cry 
of the ferocious animal came from the tops of the 
trees, when it was followed by the sharp and long 
whistling of the monkeys. Humboldt supposes the 
noise thus made by the inhabitants of the thicket, 
at certain hours of the night, to be the effect of some 
contest that has arisen among them. 

On the 2d April they set sail before sunrise. 
The river was ploughed by porpoises, and the shore 
crowded with aquatic birds; while some of the latter, 
perched on the floating timber, were endeavouring 
to surprise the fish that preferred the middle of the 
stream. The navigation is rather dangerous, on ac- 
count of the large trees which remain obliquely fixed 
in the mud, and the canoe touched several times. 
Near the island of Carizales, they saw enormous 
trunks covered with plotuses or darters, and below 
it observed a diminution of the waters of the river, 
owing to infiltration and evaporation. Near the 
Vuelta de Basilio, where they landed to gather 
plants, they saw r on a tree two beautiful jet-black 
monkeys of an unknown species, and also a nest 
of iguanas, which was pointed out by the Indians. 
The flesh of this lizard is very white, and, next to 
that of the armadillo, is the best food to be found 
in the huts of the natives. Towards evening it 
rained, and swallows were seen skimming along the 
water. They also saw a flock of parrots pursued by 
hawks. The night was passed on the beach. 

On the 3d they proceeded down the river in their 
solitary course. The sailors caught the fish known 
in the country by the name of caribe; which, although 
only four or five inches in length, attacks persons 



ADVENTURE WITH A JAGUAR. 217 

who go into the water, and with its sharp triangular 
teeth often tears considerable portions of flesh from 
their legs. When pieces of meat are cast into the 
river, clouds of these little fishes appear in a few 
minutes. There are three varieties in the Orinoco; one 
of which seems to be the Salmo rhombeus of Lin- 
naeus. At noon they stopped in a desert spot called 
Algodonal, when Humboldt left his companions and 
went along the beach to observe a group of crocodiles 
sleeping in the sun. Some little herons of a white 
colour were walking along their backs, and even on 
their heads. As he was proceeding, his eyes directed 
towards the river, he discovered recent footmarks 
of a beast of prey,*- and turning toward the forest, 
found himself within eighty steps of an enormous- 
ly large jaguar. Although extremely frightened, 
he yet retained sufficient command of himself to 
follow the advice which the Indians had so often 
given, and continued to walk without moving his 
arms, making a large circuit toward the edge of the 
water. As the distance increased he accelerated his 
pace, and at length, judging it safe to look about, 
did so, and saw the tiger in the same spot. Ar- 
riving at the boat out of breath, he related his ad- 
venture to the natives, who seemed to think it no- 
thing extraordinary. In the evening they passed 
the mouth of the Cano del Manati, so named on 
account of the vast number of manatees caught there. 
This aquatic herbivorous animal generally attains 
the length of ten or twelve feet, and abounds in the 
Orinoco below the cataracts, the Rio Meta, and the 
Apure. The flesh, although very savoury and re- 
sembling pork, is considered unwholesome ; but it 
is in request during Lent, being classed by the 



218 MANATEES. 

monks among fishes. The fat is used for lamps in 
the churches, as well as for cooking; while the hide 
is cut into slips to supply the place of cordage. Whips 
are also made of it in the Spanish colonies for the 
castigation of negroes and other slaves. The fires 
lighted by the boatmen on the shore attracted the 
crocodiles and dolphins. Two persons kept watch 
during the night. A jaguar with her cub approach- 
ed the encampment, but was driven away by the 
attendants ; and soon after the dog was bitten in the 
nose by a large bat or vampire. 

On the 4th they intended to pass the night at 
Vuelta del Palmito ; but as the Indians were going 
to sling the hammocks they found two tigers con- 
cealed behind a tree, and it was judged safer to re- 
embark and sleep on the island of Apurito. Mul- 
titudes of gnats made their appearance regularly 
at sunset, and covered their faces and hands. On 
the 5th they were much struck by the diminution 
the waters of the Apure had undergone, which they 
attributed chiefly to absorption by the sand and eva- 
poration. It was only from 128 to 1 70 yards broad, 
and about twenty feet deep. Humboldt estimates 
the mean fall of this river at 14 inches in a mile. 
The canoe touched several times on shoals as they 
approached the point of junction, and it became ne- 
cessary to tow it by means of a line. 



THE ORINOCO. 219 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Voyage up the Orinoco. 

Ascent of the Orinoco — Port of Encararaada— Traditions of a Uni- 
versal Deluge— Gathering of Turtles' Eggs — Two Species de- 
scribed—Mode of collecting the Eggs and of manufacturing the 
Oil— Probable Number of these Animals on the Orinoco — Decora- 
tions of the Indians— Encampment of Pararuma — Height of the 
Inundations of the Orinoco — Rapids of Tabage. 

Leaving the Rio Apure the travellers entered the 
Orinoco, and presently found themselves in a coun- 
try of an entirely different aspect. As far as the eye 
could reach there lay before them a sheet of water, 
the waves of which, from the conflict of the breeze 
and the current, rose to the height of several feet. 
The long files of herons, flamingoes, and spoonbills, 
which were observed on the Apure, had disappeared ; 
and all that supplied the place of those multitudes 
of animated beings by whom they had been lately 
accompanied, was here and there a crocodile swim- 
ming in the agitated stream. The horizon was 
bounded by a girdle of forests, separated from the 
river by a broad beach, the bare and parched sur- 
face of which refracted the solar rays into the sem- 
blance of pools. 

The wind was favourable for sailing up the 
Orinoco; but the short broken waves at the junc- 
tion of the two rivers were exceedingly disagreeable. 
They passed the Punta Curiquima, a granitic pro- 
montory, between which and the mouth of the 



220 CARIB INDIANS. 

Apure, the breadth of the stream was ascertained 
to be 4063 yards, and in the rainy season it ex- 
tends to 11,760. The temperature of the water 
was in the middle of the current 829°, and near the 
shores, 84-6°. They first went up toward the south- 
west as far as the shore of the Guaricoto Indians 
on the left bank, and then toward the south. The 
mountains of Encaramada, forming a continued 
chain from west to east, seemed to rise from the wa- 
ter as distant land rises on the horizon at sea. The 
beach was composed of clay intermixed with scales 
of mica, deposited in very thin strata. At the port 
of Encaramada, where they stopped for some time, 
they met with a Carib cacique going up the river 
in his canoe to gather turtles 9 eggs. He was armed 
with a bow and arrows, as were his attendants, and, 
like them, he was naked and painted red. These 
Indians were tall and athletic, and, with their 
hair cut straight across the forehead, their eyebrows 
painted black, and their gloomy but animated coun- 
tenances, had a singular appearance. The travel- 
lers were surprised to find that the anterior portion 
of the cranium is not so depressed as those of the 
Caribs are usually represented to be. The women 
carried their infants on their backs. The shore is 
here formed by a rock forty or fifty feet high, com- 
posed of blocks of granite piled upon each other; 
the surface of which was of a dark-gray colour, al- 
though the interior was reddish-white. The night 
was passed in a creek opposite the mouth of the Rio 
Cabullare. The evening was beautiful, with moon- 
light; but towards twelve the north-east wind blew 
so violently that they became apprehensive for the 
safety of their canoe. 



TRADITIONS OF A DELUGE. 221 

On the 6th, continuing to ascend, they saw the 
southern side of the mountains of Encaramada, 
which stretch along the right bank of the river^ 
and are inhabited by Indians of a gentle charac- 
ter, and addicted to agriculture. There is a tradi- 
tion here, and elsewhere on the Orinoco, among the 
natives, ce That at the time of the Great Waters, 
when their fathers were obliged to betake them- 
selves to their canoes in order to escape the general 
inundation, the waves of the sea beat upon the 
rocks of Encaramada." When the Tamanacs are 
asked how the human race survived this great de- 
luge, they say, " That a man and a woman saved 
themselves upon a high mountain called Tamana- 
cu, situated on the bank of the Aseveru, and that, 
throwing behind them, over their heads, the fruits 
of the Mauritia palm, they saw arising from the 
nuts of these fruits the men and women who re- 
peopled the earth/' Thus, among the natives of 
America, a fable similar to that of Pyrrha and Deu- 
calion commemorates the grand catastrophe of a ge- 
neral inundation. Humboldt, in reference to the 
same event, mentions that hieroglyphic figures are 
often found along the Orinoco sculptured on rocks 
now inaccessible but by scaffolding, and that the 
natives, when asked how these figures could have 
been made, answer with a smile, as relating a fact 
of which a stranger alone could be ignorant, " That 
at the period of the Great Waters their fathers went 
to that height in boats/' 

"" These ancient traditions of the human race," 
says Humboldt, ' ' which we find dispersed over the 
surface of the globe, like the fragments of a vast 
shipwreck, are of the greatest interest in the philo- 



222 TRADITIONS OF A DELUGE. 

sophical study of our species. Like certain families 
of plants, which, notwithstanding the diversity of 
climates and the influence of heights, retain the im- 
press of a common type, the traditions respecting 
the primitive state of the globe present among all 
nations a resemblance that fills us with astonish- 
ment ; so many different languages belonging to 
branches which appear to have no connexion with 
each other, transmit the same facts to us. The sub- 
stance of the traditions respecting the destroyed 
races and the renovation of nature is every where 
almost the same, although each nation gives it a 
local colouring. In the great continents, as in the 
smallest islands of the Pacific Ocean, it is always on 
the highest and nearest mountain that the remains 
of the human race were saved ; and this event ap- 
pears so much the more recent the more unculti- 
vated the nations are, and the shorter the period 
since they have begun to acquire a knowledge of 
themselves. When we attentively examine the 
Mexican monuments anterior to the discovery of 
America, — penetrate into the forests of the Orinoco, 
and become aware of the smallness of the European 
establishments, their solitude, and the state of the 
tribes which retain their independence, — we cannot 
allow ourselves to attribute the agreement of these 
accounts to the influence of missionaries and to 
that of Christianity upon national traditions. Nor 
is it more probable that the sight of marine bodies, 
found on the summits of mountains, presented to the 
tribes of the Orinoco the idea of those great inunda~ 
tions which for some time extinguished the germs 
of organic life upon the globe. — The country which 
extends from the right bank of the Orinoco to the 



EGG-HARVEST. 223 

Casiquiare and the Rio Negro consists of primitive 
rocks. I saw there a small deposite of sandstone or 
conglomerate, but no secondary limestone, and no 
trace of petrifactions." 

At eleven in the morning the travellers landed 
on an island celebrated for the turtle fishery, or the 
" harvest of eggs," which takes place annually. Here 
they found encamped more than 300 Indians of dif- 
ferent races, each tribe, distinguished by its peculiar 
mode of painting, keeping separate from the rest, to- 
gether with a few white men who had come to pur- 
chase egg-oil from them. The missionary of Uruana, 
whose presence was necessary to procure a supply 
for the lamp of the church and keep the natives in or- 
der, received the strangers with kindness, and made 
the tour of the island with them ; showing them, by 
means of a pole which he thrust into the sand, the 
extent of the stratum of eggs, that had been depo- 
sited wherever there were no eminences. The In- 
dians asserted, that in coming up the Orinoco, from 
its mouth to the junction of the Apure, there is no 
place where eggs can be collected in abundance ; and 
the only three spots where the turtles assemble annu- 
ally in great numbers are situated between the mouth 
of the Apure and the great cataracts. These animals 
do not seem to pass beyond the falls, the species found 
above Atures and Maypures being different. 

The arrau or tortuga, which deposites the eggs 
that are so much valued on the Lower Orinoco, 
is a large fresh-water tortoise, with webbed feet, 
a very flat head, a deep groove between the eyes, 
and an upper shell composed of five central, eight 
lateral, and twenty-four marginal scutella or plates. 
The colour is dark-gray above and orange beneath. 



224 AQUATIC TORTOISES. 

When of full size it weighs from forty to fifty pounds. 
The eggs are much larger than those of a pigeon-, 
and are covered with a calcareous crust. 

The terekay, the species which occurs above the 
cataracts, is much smaller. It has the same num- 
ber of dorsal plates, but the colour is olive green, 
with two spots of red mixed with yellow on the top 
of the head,, and a prickly appendage under the 
chin. The eggs have an agreeable taste, and are 
much sought after, but are not deposited in masses 
like those of the tortuga. This variety is found below 
the cataracts as well as in the Apure, the Urituco, 
the Guarico, and the small rivers of the Llanos of 
Caraccas. 

The period at which the arrau deposites its eggs is 
when the river is lowest. About the beginning of 
February these creatures issue from the water and 
w T arm themselves on the beach, remaining there 
a great part of the day. Early in the month of 
March they assemble on the islands where they 
breed, when thousands are to be seen ranged in files 
along the shores. The Indians place sentinels at 
certain distances, to prevent them from being dis- 
turbed, and the people who pass in boats are told to 
keep in the middle of the river. The laying of the 
eggs begins soon after sunset, and is continued 
throughout the night. The animal digs a hole three 
feet in diameter and two in breadth with its hind 
feet, which are very long and furnished with crook- 
ed claws. So pressing is the desire which it feels 
to get rid of its burden, that great confusion pre- 
vails, and an immense number of eggs is broken. 
Some of the tortoises are surprised by day before 
they have finished the operation, and, becoming in- 

5 



HARVEST OF TORTOISE-EGGS. 225 

sensible to danger, continue to work with the great- 
est diligence even in the presence of the fishers. 

The Indians assemble about the beginning of 
April, and commence operations under the direction 
of the missionaries, who divide the egg-ground into 
portions. The leading person among them first 
examines, by means of a long pole or cane, how far 
the bed extends, and then allots the shares. The 
natives remove the earth with their hands, gather 
up the eggs, and carry them in baskets to the 
camp, where they throw them into long wooden 
troughs filled with water. They are next broken 
and stirred, and remain exposed to the sun, un- 
til the yolk, which swims at the surface, has time 
to inspissate, when it is taken off and boiled. The 
oil thus obtained is limpid and destitute of smell, 
and is used for lamps as well as for cooking. The 
shores of the missions of Uruana furnish 1000 bo- 
tijas or jars annually, and the three stations jointly 
may be supposed to furnish 5000. It requires 5000 
eggs to fill a jar ; and if we estimate at 100 or 116 
the number which one tortoise produces, and allow 
one-third to be broken at the time of laying, we 
may presume that 330,000 of these animals assem- 
ble every year, and lay 33,000,000 of eggs. This 
calculation, however, is much below the truth. 
Many of them lay only 60 or 70; great numbers 
of them again are devoured by jaguars; the In- 
dians take away a considerable quantity to eat 
them dried in the sun, and break nearly as many 
while gathering them ; and, besides, the proportion 
that is hatched is such, that Humboldt saw the 
whole shore near the encampment of Uruana swarm- 
ing with young ones. Moreover, all the arraus do 

o 



226 ASCENT OF THE ORINOCO. 

not assemble on the three shores of the encamp- 
ments, but many lay elsewhere. The number which 
annually deposite their eggs on the shores of the 
Lower Orinoco may, therefore, be estimated at little 
short of a million. The travellers were shown the 
shells of large turtles which had been emptied by 
the jaguars. These animals surprise them on the 
sand, and turn them on their back in order to de- 
vour them at their ease ; they dig up the eggs also ; 
and, together with the gallinazo vulture and the 
herons, destroy thousands of their brood. 

After procuring some fresh provision, and taking 
leave of the missionary, they set sail in the after- 
noon. The wind blew in squalls, and after they 
had entered the mountainous part of the country, 
they found the canoe not very safe when under 
sail; but the master was desirous of showing off to 
the Indians, and in going close upon the wind al- 
most upset his vessel, which filled with water, and 
nearly foundered. In the evening they landed on a 
barren island, where they supped under a beautiful 
moonlight, with turtle-shells for seats, and indulged 
their imagination with the picture of a shipwrecked 
man, wandering on the desert shores of the Orinoco 
amid rivers full of crocodiles and caribe fishes. The 
night was intensely hot, and not finding trees on 
which to sling their hammocks, they slept on skins 
spread on the ground. To their surprise the jaguars 
swam to the island, although they had kindled fires 
to prevent them; but these animals did not venture 
to attack them. 

On the 7th they passed the mouth of the Rio 
Arauca, which is frequented by immense numbers 
of birds. They also saw the mission of Uruana, at 



MOUNTAINOUS DISTRICT. 227 

the foot of a mountain composed of detached blocks of 
granite, in the caverns formed by which hieroglyphic 
figures are sculptured. Measuring the breadth of 
the Orinoco here, they found it, at a distance of 
670 miles from the mouth, to be 5700 yards, or 
nearly three miles. The temperature of the water 
at its surface was 82°. As the strength of the 
current increased the progress of the boat became 
much slower, while at one time the woods de- 
prived them of the wind, and at another a violent 
gust descended from the mountain-passes. Opposite 
the lake of Capanaparo, which communicates with 
the river, the number of crocodiles was increased* 
The Indians asserted that they came in troops to 
the water from the savannahs, where they lie buried 
in the solid mud until the first showers awaken 
them. Humboldt remarks, that the dry season of 
the torrid zone corresponds to the winter of the 
temperate regions of the globe ; and that while the 
alligators of North America become torpid through 
excess of cold, the crocodiles of the Llanos are reduced 
to the same state through deficiency of moisture. 

They now entered the passage of the Baraguan, 
where the Orinoco is hemmed in by precipices of gra- 
nite, forming part of a range of mountains through 
which it has found or forced a channel. Like all 
the other granitic hills which they observed on this 
river, they were formed of enormous cubical masses 
piled upon each other. Landing in the middle of 
the strait, they found the breadth of the stream to 
be 1895 yards. They looked in vain for plants in 
the fissures of the rocks ; but the stones were cover- 
ed with multitudes of lizards. There was not a 
breath of wind, and the heat was so intense that 



228 INTENSE HEAT. 

the thermometer placed against the rock rose to 
122-4°. « How vivid/' says Humboldt, " is the 
impression which the noontide quiet of nature pro- 
duces in these burning climates ! The beasts of the 
forest retire to the thickets, and the birds conceal 
themselves among the foliage or in the crevices of 
rocks. Yet amid this apparent silence, should one 
listen attentively, he hears a stifled sound, a con- 
tinued murmur, a hum of insects, that fill the lower 
strata of the air. Nothing is more adapted to ex- 
cite in man a sentiment of the extent and power of 
organic life. Myriads of insects crawl on the ground, 
and flutter round the plants scorched by the heat 
of the sun. A confused noise issues from every bush, 
from the decayed trunks of the trees, the fissures of 
the rocks, and from the ground, which is under- 
mined by lizards, millipedes, and blindworms. It 
is a voice proclaiming to us that all nature breathes, 
that under a thousand diiferent forms life is diffused 
in the cracked and dusty soil, as in the bosom of 
the waters, and in the air that circulates around 
us." The water of the river was very disagreeable 
here, as it had a musky smell and a sweetish taste. 
In some parts it was pretty good ; but in others it 
seemed loaded with gelatinous matter, which the 
natives attribute to putrified crocodiles. 

After sleeping at the foot of an eminence they 
continued their voyage, and passed the mouths of 
several rivers ; and on the 9th arrived, early in the 
morning, at the beach of Pararuma, where they 
found an encampment of Indians, who had assem- 
bled to search the sands for turtles' eggs. The pilot, 
who had brought them from San Fernando de 
Apure, would not undertake to accompany them far- 






PARARUMA — EGGS INDIANS. 229 

ther ; but they procured a boat from one of the mis- 
sionaries who had come to the egg- harvest. 

This assemblage or encampment afforded to the 
travellers an interesting subject of study. " How 
difficult/' says Humboldt, " to recognise in this in- 
fancy of society, this collection of dull, taciturn, and 
unimpassioned Indians, the original character of 
our species ! Human nature is not seen here ar- 
rayed in that gentle simplicity of which poets in 
every language have drawn such enchanting pic- 
tures. The savage of the Orinoco appeared to us 
as hideous as the savage of the Mississippi, described 
by the philosophical traveller who best knew how 
to paint man in the various regions of the globe. 
One would fain persuade himself that these natives 
of the soil, crouched near the fire, or seated on large 
shells of turtles, their bodies covered with earth and 
grease, and their eyes stupidly fixed for whole hours 
on the drink which they are preparing, far from 
being the original type of our species, are a degene- 
rated race, the feeble remains of nations which, 
after being long scattered in the forests, have been 
again immersed in barbarism." 

Red paint is the ordinary decoration of these 
tribes. The most common kind is obtained from 
the seeds of the Bixa orellana, and is called anotto, 
achote, or roucou. Another much more expensive 
species is extracted from the leaves of Bignonia chica. 
Both these are red; but a black ingredient is obtained 
from the Genipa Americana, and is called caruto. 
These pigments are mixed with turtle-oil or grease, 
and are variously applied according to national or 
individual taste. The Caribs and Otomacs colour 
only the head and hair, while the Salivas smear 



230 ENCAMPMENT OF INDIANS. 

the whole body; but there prevails in general as 
great a diversity in the mode of staining as is found 
in Europe in respect to dress ; and at Pararuma the 
travellers saw some Indians painted with a blue 
jacket and black buttons. Women advanced in years 
are fonder of being thus ornamented than the younger 
ladies ; and so expensive is this mode of decoration, 
that an industrious man can hardly gain enough 
by the labour of a fortnight to adorn himself with 
chica, of which the missionaries make an article of 
traffic. After all, the paintings that cost so much 
are liable to be effaced by a heavy shower ; although 
the caruto long resists the action of water, as the 
travellers found by disagreeable experience; for hav- 
ing one day in sport marked their faces with spots 
and strokes of it, it was not entirely removed till 
after a long period. It has been supposed that this 
usage prevents the Indians from being stung by in- 
sects ; but this was found to be incorrect. The pre- 
ference given by the American tribes to the red co- 
lour, Humboldt supposes to be owing to the tendency 
which nations feel to attribute the idea of beauty to 
whatever characterizes their national complexion. 

The encampment of Pararuma also afforded the 
travellers an opportunity of examining several ani- 
mals they had not before seen alive, and which 
the Indians brought to exchange with the mission- 
aries for fish-hooks and other necessaries. Among 
these specimens were gallitoes, or rock-manakins, 
monkeys of different species, of which the titi or 
Simla sciurea seems to have been a special favourite 
with Humboldt. He mentions a very interesting 
fact illustrative of the sagacity of this creature. One 
which he had purchased of the natives distinguish- 



SAGACITY OF THE TITI MONKEY. 231 

ed the different plates of a work on natural history 
so well, that when an engraving which contained 
zoological representations was placed before it, it 
rapidly advanced its little hand to catch a gras- 
hopper or a wasp ; which was the more remarkable 
as the figures were not coloured. Humboldt observes, 
that he never heard of any the most perfect picture 
of hares or deer producing the least effect upon a 
hound, and doubts if there be a well-ascertained ex- 
ample of a dog having recognised a full-length por- 
trait of its master. 

The canoe which they had procured was forty, 
two feet long and three broad. The missionary of 
Atures and Maypures had offered to accompany 
them as far as the frontiers of Brazil, and made pre- 
parations for the voyage. Two Indians who were 
to form part of the crew were chained during the 
night to prevent their escape ; and on the morning 
of the 10th the company set out. The vessel was 
found to be extremely incommodious. To gain 
something in breadth a kind of frame had been ex- 
tended over the gunwale in the hinder part of it; 
but the roof of leaves which covered it was so low, 
that the travellers were obliged to lie down, or 
sit nearly double, while in rainy weather the feet 
were liable to be wetted. The natives, seated two 
and two, were furnished with paddles three feet 
long, and rowed with surprising uniformity to the 
cadence of a monotonous and melancholy song. 
Small cages containing birds and monkeys were sus- 
pended to the shed, and the dried plants and instru- 
ments were placed beneath it. To their numerous 
inconveniences was added the continual torment of 
the mosquitoes, which they were unable by any 



232 SCENERY CARICHANA. 

means to alleviate. Every night, when they estab- 
lished their watch, the collection of animals and 
instruments occupied the centre, around which were 
placed first their own hammocks, and then those 
of the Indians, while fires were lighted to intimi- 
date the jaguars. At sunrise the monkeys in the 
cages answered the cries of those in the forests, af- 
fording an affecting display of sympathy between 
the captive and the free. 

Above the deserted mission of Pararuma the river 
is full of islands, and divides into several branches. 
Its total breadth is about 6395 yards. The country 
becomes more wooded. A granitic prism, termi- 
nated by a flat surface covered with a tuft of trees, 
rises to the height of 213 feet in the midst of the forest. 
Farther on the river narrows ; and upon the east is 
an eminence, on which the Jesuits formerly main- 
tained a garrison for protecting the missions against 
the inroads of the Caribs, and for extending what, 
in the Spanish colonies, was called the conquest of 
souls, which of course was effected through the con- 
quest of bodies. The soldiers made incursions into 
the territories of the independent Indians, killed all 
who offered resistance, burned their huts, destroyed 
the plantations, and made prisoners of the old men, 
women, and children, who were afterwards divided 
among their establishments. The river again con- 
tracted, and rapids began to make their appearance, 
the shores becoming sinuous and precipitous. In a 
bay between two promontories of granite, they 
landed at what is called the Port of Carichana, and 
proceeded to the mission of that name, situated at 
the distance of two miles and a half from the bank, 
where they were hospitably received at the priest's 



INDIANS VEGETATION. 233 

house. The Christian converts at this station were 
Salivas, a social and mild people, having a great 
taste for music. 

Among these Indians they found a white woman, 
the sister of a Jesuit of New Grenada, and expe- 
rienced great pleasure in conversing with her with- 
out the aid of a third person. In every mission, 
says Humboldt, there are at least two interpreters, 
for the purpose of communicating between the monks 
and the catechumens, the former seldom studying 
the language of the latter. They are natives, some- 
what less stupid than the rest, but ill adapted for 
their office. They always attended the travellers in 
their excursions ; but little more could be got from 
them than a mere affirmation or negation. Some- 
times, in attempting to hold intercourse with the 
Indians, he preferred the language of signs, — a me- 
thod which he recommends to travellers, as the va- 
riety of languages spoken on the Meta, Orinoco, 
Casiquiare, and Rio Negro, is so great, that no one 
could ever make himself understood in them all. 

The scenery around the mission of Carichana ap- 
peared delightful. The village was situated on a 
grassy plain, bounded by mountains. Banks of rock, 
often more than 850 feet in circumference, scarcely 
elevated a few inches above the savannahs, and 
nearly destitute of vegetation, give a peculiar cha- 
racter to the country. On these stony flats they 
eagerly observed the rising vegetation in the differ- 
ent stages of its development : Lichens cleaving the 
rock and collected into crusts ; a few succulent 
plants growing among little portions of quartz-sand ; 
and tufts of evergreen shrubs springing up in the 
black mould deposited in the hollows. At the dis- 



234 MARKS OF INUNDATIONS. 

tance of eight or ten miles from the religious house 
they found a rich and diversified assemblage of 
plants, among which M. Bonpland obtained nume- 
rous new species. Here grew the Dipterix odorata, 
which furnishes excellent timber, and of which the 
fruit is known in Europe by the name of tonkay or 
tongo bean. 

In a narrow part of the river the marks of the 
great inundations were 45 feet above the surface ; 
but at various places black bands and erosions are 
seen, 106 or even 138 feet above the present highest 
increase of the waters. " Is this river, then/' says 
Humboldt, " the Orinoco, which appears to us so 
imposing and majestic, merely the feeble remnant 
of those immense currents of fresh water which, 
swelled by Alpine snows or by more abundant 
rains, every where shaded by dense forests and des- 
titute of those beaches that favour evaporation, for- 
merly traversed the regions to the east of the Andes, 
like arms of inland seas ? What must then have 
been the state of those low countries of Guiana, 
which now experience the effects of annual inunda- 
tions ? What a prodigious number of crocodiles, la- 
mantines, and boas, must have inhabited these vast 
regions, alternately converted into pools of stagnant 
water and arid plains ! The more peaceful world 
in which we live has succeeded to a tumultuous 
world. Bones of mastodons and real American ele- 
phants are found dispersed over the platforms of the 
Andes. The megatherium inhabited the plains of 
Uruguay. By digging the earth more deeply in 
high valleys, which at the present day are unable 
to nourish palms or tree-ferns, we discover strata of 
coal containing gigantic remains of monocotyledo- 



RAPIDS AND THUNDER-STORM. 235 

nous plants. There was therefore a remote periods 
when the tribes of vegetables were differently dis- 
tributed ; when the animals were larger,, the rivers 
wider and deeper. There stop the monuments of 
nature which we can consult. We are ignorant if 
the human race, which at the time of the discovery 
of America scarcely presented a few feeble tribes to 
the east of the Cordilleras, had yet descended into 
the plains,, or if the ancient tradition of the Great 
Waters, which we find among all the races of the 
Orinoco, Erevato, and Caura, belong to other cli- 
mates, whence it had been transferred to this part 
of the new continent/' 

On the 11th they left Carichana at two in the 
afternoon, and found the river more and more en- 
cumbered by blocks of granite. At the large rock 
• known by the name of Piedra del Tigre, the depth 
is so great that no bottom can be found with a line 
of 140 feet. Towards evening they encountered 
a thunder-storm, which for a time drove away the 
mosquitoes that had tormented them during the 
day. At the cataract of Cariven the current was 
so rapid that they had great difficulty in landing ; 
but at length two Saliva Indians swam to the shore, 
and drew the canoe to the side with a rope. The 
thunder continued a part of the night, and the 
river increased considerably. The granitic rock on 
which they slept, is one of those from which tra- 
vellers on the Orinoco have heard subterranean 
sounds, resembling those of an organ, emitted about 
sunrise. Humboldt supposes that these must be 
produced by the passage of rarefied air through 
the fissures, and seems to think, that the impulse 
of the fluid against the elastic scales of mica which 



236 MYSTERIOUS SOUNDS. 

intercept the crevices may contribute to modify their 
expression.* 

On the 12th they set off at four in the morning. 
The Indians rowed twelve hours and a half with- 
out intermission, during which time they took no 
other nourishment than cassava and plantains. The 
bed of the river, to the length of 1280 yards, was 
full of granite rocks, the channels between which 
were often very narrow, insomuch, that the canoe 
was sometimes jammed in between two blocks. 
When the current was too strong the sailors leapt 
out, and warped the boat along. The rocks were of 
all dimensions, rounded, very dark, glossy like lead, 
and destitute of vegetation. No crocodiles were 
seen in these rapids. The left bank of the Orinoco, 
from Cabruto to the mouth of the Rio Serianico, a 
distance of nearly two degrees of latitude, is entirely 

* Many examples of mysterious sounds produced under similar 
circumstances are on record. In the autumn of 1828, a recent tra- 
veller crossing- the Pyrenees, when in a wild pass with the Mala- 
detta mountain opposite, heard " a dull, low, moaning, iEolian sound, 
which alone broke upon the deathly silence, evidently proceeding 
from the body of this mighty mass." The air was perfectly calm, 
and clear to an extraordinary degree ; no waterfall could be seen 
even with the aid of a telescope, and no cause could be assigned for 
the phenomenon, unless the sun's rays, " at that moment impinging 
in all their glory on every point and peak of the snowy heights, 
had some share u in vibrating these mountain-chords." — iV. M. 

Mag. xxx. 341. The granite statue of Memnon is well known to 

have emitted sounds when the morning beams darted upon it ; and 
MM. Jomard, Jollois, and Devilliers, heard a noise resembling that 
of the breaking of a string, which proceeded at sunrise from a 
monument of granite situated near the centre of the spot on which 
stands the palace of Carnac. Singular sounds have been heard 
from the interior of a mountain near Tor, in Arabia Petraea. They 
are familiar to the natives, who ascribe them to a convent of monks 
miraculously preserved under ground, and were heard by M. Seet- 
zen and Mr Gray, the only European travellers who have visited 
the place. For an account of these curious phenomena, the reader 
may be referred to Dr Brewster's Letters on Natural Magic, form- 
ing No. XXXIII. of the Family Library. 



MAJESTIC SCENERY SAN BORJA. 237 

uninhabited ; but to the westward of these rapids an 
enterprising individual, Don Felix Relinchon, had 
formed a village of Jaruro and Otomac Indians. 
At nine in the morning they arrived at the mouth 
of the Meta, which, next to the Guaviare, is the 
largest river that joins the Orinoco. At the union 
of these streams the scenery is of a very impressive 
character. Solitary peaks rise on the eastern side, 
appearing in the distance like ruined castles, while 
vast sandy shores intervene between the bank and 
the forests. They passed two hours on a large rock 
in the middle of the Orinoco, upon which Hum- 
boldt succeeded in fixing his instruments, and in 
determining the longitude of the embouchure of the 
Meta ; a river which will one day be of great politi- 
cal importance to the inhabitants of Guiana and 
Venezuela, as it is navigable to the foot of the An- 
des of New Grenada. Above this point the current 
was comparatively free from shoals; and in the 
evening they reached the Rapids of Tabaje. As 
the Indians would not venture to pass them they 
were obliged to land and repose on a craggy plat- 
form having a slope of more than eighteen degrees, 
and having its crevices filled with bats. The cries 
of the jaguar were heard very near during the 
whole night ; the sky was of a tremendous black- 
ness ; and the hoarse noise of the rapids blended 
with the thunder which rolled at a distance amongst 
the woods. 

Early in the morning they cleared the rapids, and 
disembarked at the new mission of San Borja, 
where they found six houses inhabited by uncate- 
chised Guahiboes, who differed in nothing from the 
wild natives. The faces of the young girls were 



238 MISSION OF SAN BORJA. 

marked with black spots. This people had not 
painted their bodies,, and several of them had beards, 
of which they seemed proud, taking the travellers 
by the chin, and showing by signs that they were 
like themselves. In continuing to ascend the river 
they found the heat less intense, the temperature 
during the day being 79° or 80°, and at night about 
75° ; but the torment of the mosquitoes increased. 
The crocodiles which they saw were all of the ex- 
traordinary size of 24 or 25 feet. 

The night was spent on the beach ; but the suf- 
ferings inflicted by the flies induced the travellers to 
start at five in the morning. On the island of Gua- 
chaco, where they stopped to breakfast, they found 
the granite covered by a sandstone or conglomerate, 
containing fragments of quartz and felspar cemented 
by indurated clay, and exhibiting small veins of 
brown iron-ore. Passing the mouth of the Rio Pa- 
rueni, they slept on the island of Panumana, which 
they found rich in plants, and where they again 
observed the low shelves of rock partially coated 
with the vegetation which they had admired at 
Carichana. 



31ISSI0N OF ATURES. 239 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Voyage up the Orinoco continued. 

Mission of Atures — Epidemic Fevers — Black Crust of Granitic 
Rocks — Causes of Depopulation of the Missions — Falls of Apures 
— Scenery — Anecdote of a Jaguar — Domestic Animals — Wild 
Man of the Woods — Mosquitoes and other poisonous Insects — 
Mission and Cataracts of Maypures — Scenery — Inhabitants — 
Spice-trees — San Fernando de Atabapo — San Baltasar — The 
Mother's Rock — Vegetation — Dolphins — San Antonio de* Javi- 

. ta — Indians — Elastic Gum — Serpents — Portage of the Pimichin 
— Arrival at the Rio Negro, a Branch of the Amazon — Ascent 
of the Casiquiare. 

Leaving the island of Panumana at an early hour 
the navigators continued to ascend the Orinoco, the 
scenery on which became more interesting the near- 
er they approached the great cataracts. The sky 
was in part obscured, and lightnings flashed among 
the dense clouds ; but no thunder was heard. On 
the western bank of the river they perceived the fires 
of an encampment of Guahiboes, to intimidate whom 
some shots were discharged by the direction of the 
missionary. In the evening they arrived at the foot 
of the great fall, and passed the night at the mission 
of Atures in its neighbourhood. The flat savannah 
which surrounds the village seemed to Humboldt 
to have formerly been the bed of the Orinoco. 

This station was found to be in a deplorable 
state, the Indians having gradually deserted it 
until only forty-seven remained. At its founda- 
2 



240 NOXIOUS EXHALATIONS FROM 

tion in 1748 several tribes had been assembled, which 
subsequently dispersed, and their places were sup- 
plied by the Guahiboes, who belong to the lowest 
grade of uncivilized society, and a few families of 
Macoes. The epidemic fevers, which prevail here at 
the commencement of the rainy season, contributed 
greatly to the decay of the establishment. This 
distemper is ascribed to the violent heats, excessive 
humidity of the air, bad food, and, as the natives 
believe, to the noxious exhalations that rise from 
the bare rocks of the rapids. This last is a curious 
circumstance, and, as Humboldt remarks, is the 
more worthy of attention on account of its being 
connected with a fact that has been observed in 
several parts of the world, although it has not yet 
been sufficiently explained. 

Among the cataracts and falls of the Orinoco, 
the granite rocks, wherever they are periodically 
submersed, become smooth and seem as if coated 
with black lead. The crust is only 0*3 of a line in 
thickness, and occurs chiefly on the quartzy parts of 
the stone, which is coarse grained, and contains 
solitary crystals of hornblende. The same appear- 
ance is presented at the cataracts of Syene as well 
as those of the Congo. This black deposite, accord- 
ing to Mr Children's analysis, consists of oxide of 
iron and manganese, to which some experiments of 
Humboldt induced him to add carbon and super- 
carburetted iron. The phenomenon has hitherto 
been observed only in the torrid zone, in rivers that 
overflow periodically and are bounded by primitive 
rocks, and is supposed by our author to arise from 
the precipitation of substances chemically dissolved 
in the water, and not from an efflorescence of mat- 



DEPOPULATION OF THE MISSIONS. 241 

ters contained in the rocks themselves. The In- 
dians and missionaries assert,, that the exhalations 
from these rocks are unwholesome, and consider it 
dangerous to sleep on granite near the river; and our 
travellers, without entirely crediting this assertion, 
usually took care to avoid the black rocks at night. 
But the danger of reposing on them, Humboldt 
thinks, may rather be owing to the very great de- 
gree of warmth they retain during the night, which 
was found to be 85-5°, while that of the air was 78*8°. 
In the day their temperature was 118*4°, and the 
heat which they emitted was stifling. 

Among the causes of the depopulation of the 
missions, Humboldt mentions the general insalu- 
brity of the climate, bad nourishment, want of pro- 
per treatment in the diseases of children, and the 
practice of preventing pregnancy by the use of dele- 
terious herbs. Among the savages of Guiana, when 
twins are produced one is always destroyed, from 
the idea that to bring more than one at a time into 
the world is to resemble rats, opossums, and the 
vilest animals, and that two children born at once 
cannot belong to the same father. When any phy- 
sical deformity occurs in an infant, the father puts 
it to death, and those of a feeble constitution some- 
times undergo the same fate, because the care which 
they require is disagreeable. " Such/' says Hum- 
boldt, " is the simplicity of manners, — the boasted 
happiness of man, in the state of nature ! He kills 
his son to escape the ridicule of having twins, or to 
avoid travelling more slowly, — in fact, to avoid a 
little inconvenience/' 

The two great cataracts of the Orinoco are form- 
ed by the passage of the river across a chain of gra- 

p 



242 CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO. 

nitic mountains,, constituting part of the Parime 
range. By the natives they are called Mapara and 
Quittuna ; but the missionaries have denominated 
them the falls of Atures and Maypures, after the 
first tribes which they assembled in the nearest vil- 
lages. They are only 41 miles distant from each 
other,, and are not more than 345 miles west of the 
cordilleras of New Grenada. They divide the Chris- 
tian establishments of Spanish Guiana into two 
unequal parts ; those situated between the lower ca- 
taract, or that of Apures, being called the missions 
of the Lower Orinoco, and those between the upper 
cataract and the mountains of Duida, being called 
the missions of the Upper Orinoco. The length 
of the lower section, including its sinuosities, is 
897 miles, while that of the upper is 576 miles. 
The navigation of the river extends from its 
mouth to the point where it meets the Anaveni 
near the lower cataract, although in the upper part 
-of tlv * division there are rapids which can be passed 
cr 1 / ;n small boats. The principal danger, how- 
e» er, is that which arises from natural rafts, con- 
sisting of trees interwoven with lianas, and covered 
with aquatic plants carried down by the current. 
The cataracts are formed by bars stretching across 
the bed of the river, which forces its way through 
a break in the mountains; but beyond this rugged 
pass the course is again open for a length of more 
than 576 miles. 

The scenery in the vicinity of the lower fall is 
described as exceedingly beautiful. To the west of 
Atures, a pyramidal mountain, the Peak of Uniana, 
rises from a plain to the height of nearly 3200 
feet. The savannahs, which are covered with 






SCENERY OF THE LOWER CATARACT. 243 

grasses and slender plants, though never inundated 
by the river, present a surprising luxuriance and 
diversity of vegetation. Piles of granitic blocks rise 
here and there, and at the margins of the plains 
occur deep valleys and ravines, the humid soil of 
which is covered with arums, heliconias, and lia- 
nas. The shelves of primitive rocks, scarcely elevated 
above the plain, are partially coated with lichens and 
mosses, together with succulent plants, and tufts of 
evergreen shrubs with shining leaves. On all sides 
the horizon is bounded by mountains, overgrown with 
forests of laurels, among which clusters of palms rise 
to the height of more than a hundred feet, their slen- 
der stems supporting tufts of feathery foliage. To 
the east of Atures other mountains appear, the ridge 
of which is composed of pointed cliffs, rising like 
huge pillars above the trees. When these columnar 
masses are situated near the Orinoco, flamingoes, 
herons, and other wading birds, perch on their sum- 
mits, and look like sentinels. In the vicinity of the"" 
cataracts, the moisture which is diffused in the air 
produces a perpetual verdure, and wherever soil has 
accumulated on the plains, it is occupied by the 
beautiful shrubs of the mountains. 

The rainy season had scarcely commenced, yet 
the vegetation displayed all the vigour and bril- 
liancy which, on the coast, it assumes only towards 
the end of the rains. The old trunks were deco- 
rated with orchidese, bannisterias, bignonias, arums, 
and other parasitic plants. Mimosas, figs, and lau- 
rels, were the prevailing trees in the woody spots ; 
and in the vicinity of the cataract were groups of 
heliconias, bamboos, and palms. 

Along a space of more than five miles, the bed of 



244 CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO. 

the Orinoco is traversed by numerous dikes of rock, 
forming natural dams, filled with islands of every 
form, some rocky and precipitous, while others re- 
semble shoals. By these the river is broken up 
into torrents, which are ever dashing their spray 
against the rocks. They are all furnished with 
sylvan vegetation, and resemble a mass of palm-trees 
rising amidst the foam of the waters. The current 
is divided into a multitude of rapids, each endea- 
vouring to force a passage through the narrows, and 
is every where engulfed in caverns, in one of which 
the travellers heard the water rolling at once over 
their heads and beneath their feet. 

Notwithstanding the formidable aspect of this 
long succession of falls, the Indians pass many of 
them in their canoes. When ascending they swim 
on before, and after repeated efforts succeed in fix- 
ing a rope to a point of rock, and thus draw the 
canoe up the rapid. Sometimes it fills with water, 
and is not unfrequently dashed to pieces against the 
shelves, upon which the sailors again swim, though 
not without difficulty, through the whirlpools to the 
nearest island. When the bars are very high the 
vessels are taken ashore, and drawn upon rollers, 
made of the branches of trees, to a place where the 
river again becomes navigable. During the flood, 
however, this operation is seldom necessary. 

Although the rapids of the Orinoco form a long 
series of falls, the noise of which is heard at the dis- 
tance of more than three miles, yet the rocks were 
found by Humboldt not to have a greater height 
than thirty feet perpendicular. He thinks it pro- 
bable that a considerable part of the water is lost by 
passing into subterranean cavities, independently of 



ANECDOTE OF A JAGUAR. 245 

that which disappears by being dispersed in the at- 
mosphere. Numberless holes and sinuosities are 
formed in the crevices by the friction of the sand 
and quartz pebbles ; but he does not consider that 
any great change is effected in the general form of 
the cataracts by the action of the water, the granite 
being too hard to be worn away to a great extent. 
The Indians assert that the stony barriers preserve 
the same aspect ; but that the partial torrents into 
which the river divides itself are changed in their 
direction, and carry sometimes more sometimes less 
water towards one or other bank. 

When the rush of the cataracts is heard in the 
plain that surrounds the mission of Atures, one 
imagines he is near a coast skirted by reefs and 
breakers. The noise is thrice as loud by night as 
by day. This circumstance had struck the padre 
and the Indians, and Humboldt attributes it to the 
cessation of the sun's action, which is productive of 
numberless currents and undulations of the air, im- 
peding the progress of sound by presenting spaces 
of different density. 

The jaguars, which abound every where on the 
Orinoco, are so numerous here that they come into 
the village, and devour the pigs of the poor Indians. 
The missionary related a striking instance of the fami- 
liarity of these animals : — cc Two Indian children, a 
boy and girl eight or nine years of age, were sitting 
among the grass near the village of Atures, in the 
midst of a savannah. It was two in the afternoon 
when a jaguar issued from the forest and approached 
the children, gamboling around them; sometimes 
concealing itself among the long grass, and again 
springing forward, with his back curved and his 



246 ANECDOTE OF A JAGUAR. 

head lowered, as is usual with our cats. The little 
boy was unaware of the danger in which he was 
placed, and became sensible of it only when the ja- 
guar struck him on the head with one of his paws. 
The blows thus inflicted were at first slight, but 
gradually became ruder. The claws of the jaguar 
wounded the child, and blood flowed with violence. 
The little girl then took up a branch of a tree and 
struck the animal, which fled before her. The In- 
dians hearing the cries of the children, ran up and 
saw the jaguar, which bounded off without showing 
any disposition to defend itself." cc What," asks 
Humboldt, " meant this fit of playfulness in an ani- 
mal which, although not difficult to be tamed in our 
menageries, is always so ferocious and cruel in the 
state of freedom ? If we choose to admit that, being 
sure of its prey, it played with the young Indian 
as the domestic cat plays with a bird, the wings 
of which have been clipped, how can we account 
for the forbearance of a large jaguar when pursued 
by a little girl ? If the jaguar was not pressed by 
hunger, why should it have gone up to the chil- 
dren ? There are mysteries in the affections and ha- 
treds of animals. We have seen lions kill three or 
four dogs which were put into their cage, and in- 
stantly caress another which had the courage to seize 
the royal beast by the mane. Man is ignorant of the 
sources of these instincts. It would seem that weak- 
ness inspires more interest the more confiding it is." 
The cattle introduced by the Jesuits had entire- 
ly disappeared; but the Indians rear the common 
pig and another kind peculiar to America, and 
known in Europe by the name of pecari. A third 
species of hog, the Apida, which is of a dark-brown 



WILD HOGS — MONKEYS — MOSQUITOES. 247 

colour, wanders in large herds composed of several 
hundreds. M. Bonpland, when upon a botanical 
excursion, saw a drove of these animals pass near 
him. It marched in a close body ; the males be- 
fore, and each sow accompanied by her young. 
The natives kill them with small lances tied to 
cords. At the mission they saw a monkey of a 
new species, which had been brought up in cap- 
tivity, and which every day seized a pig in the 
court-yard, and remained upon it from morning to 
night, in all its wanderings in the savannahs. Here, 
for the first time, they heard of the hairy man of 
the woods, a large animal of the ape kind, which, 
according to report, carries off women, builds huts, 
and sometimes eats human flesh. Father Gili grave- 
ly relates the history of a lady of San Carlos, who 
passed several years with one, which she left only 
because she and the children she had to him were 
tired of living far from the church and the sacra- 
ments. In all his travels in America, Humboldt 
found no traces of a large anthropomorphous mon- 
key, although in several places, very distant from 
each other, he heard similar accounts of it. 

Flies of various kinds unceasingly tormented the 
travellers; mosquitoes and simulia by day, and 
zancudoes by night. The missionary, observing 
that the insects were more abundant in the low^est 
stratum of the atmosphere, had constructed near 
the church a small apartment supported upon palm- 
trunks, to which they retired in the evening to dry 
their plants and write their journals.* At May- 

* A similar expedient was tried by a British officer who had 
joined the insurgents under Bolivar, in 1818. " These insects," (the 



248 MOSQUITOES. 

pures the Indians leave the village at night, and 
sleep on the little islands in the midst of the cata- 
racts, where the insects are less numerous. Hum- 
boldt gives an elaborate account of these creatures, 
of which, however, the most interesting particulars 
alone can be here extracted. In the missions of the 
Orinoco, when two persons meet in the morning, 
the first questions are, — "" How did you find the 
zancudoes during the night ? How are we to-day 
for the mosquitoes ?" The plague of these animals, 
however, is not so general in the torrid zone as is 
commonly believed. On the table-lands that have 
an elevation of more than 2558 feet, and in very 
dry plains at a distance from rivers, they are not 
more numerous than in Europe; but along the 
valleys, as well as in moist places on the coast, 
they continually harass the traveller; the lower 
stratum of air, to the height of fifteen or twenty 
feet, being filled with a cloud of venomous in- 
sects. It is a remarkable circumstance that on the 
streams, the water of which is of a yellowish-brown^ 
colour, the tipulary flies do not make their ap- 
pearance. Not less astonishing is the fact, that the 
different kinds do not associate together ; but that 

mosquitoes), says he, " do not rise high in the air, but are gene- 
rated and remain near the wet banks of the river. I found a tree 
in the neighbourhood, which I ascended nearly to its top with a 
cord. This I attached firmly to the branches, and then fixed it 
round me, so that I could not fall, but sit with safety, although not 
with much comfort. It was, however, with me here as with many 
in various situations in life — I could estimate the nature and ex- 
tent of my pleasures and my difficulties merely by comparison ; and, 
certainly, although the being tied to the top of a tree as a sleeping- 
place was not very agreeable, it was far preferable to being among 
swarms of hungry mosquitoes where I had previously lodged. I 
enjoyed several hours' sleep and awoke considerably refreshed." — 
Robinson's Journal of an Expedition up the Orinoco and Ar- 
u uca* 



PASSAGE OP THE CATARACTS. 249 

at certain hours of the day, distinct species, as the 
missionaries say, mount guard. From half after 
six in the morning till five in the afternoon the 
air is filled with mosquitoes, which are of the 
genus Simulium, and resemble a common fly. An 
hour before sunset small gnats, called tempraneroes, 
succeeded them, to disappear between six and seven ; 
after which zancudoes, a species of gnat with very 
long legs, come abroad and continue until near sun- 
rise, when the former again take their turn. Per- 
sons born in the country, whether whites, mulattoes, 
negroes, or Indians, all suffer from the sting of these 
insects, although not so severely as recently-arrived 
Europeans. 

The travellers, after remaining two days in the 
vicinity of the cataract of Atures, proceeded on the 
17th to rejoin their canoe, already conducted by 
eight Indians of the mission through the rapids, and 
reached it about eleven in the morning, accompanied 
by Father Zea, who had procured a small stock of 
pr^isions, consisting of plantains, cassava, and fowls. 
The river was now free from shoals ; and after a few 
hours they passed the rapids of Garcita, and per- 
ceived numerous small holes, at an elevation of more 
than 190 feet above the level of the current, which 
appeared to have been caused by the erosion of the 
waters. The night was spent in the open air, on 
the left bank. 

On the 18th they set out at three in the morning, 
and near five in the afternoon reached the Raudal 
des Guahiboes, on the dike of which they landed 
while the Indians were drawing up the boat. The 
gneiss rock exhibited circular holes, produced by the 
friction of pebbles, in one of which they prepared a 



250 MISSION OF MAYPURES. 

beverage consisting of water,, sugar, and the juice of 
acid fruits, for the purpose of allaying the thirst of 
the missionary who was seized by a fever fit ; after 
which they had the pleasure of bathing in a quiet 
place in the midst of the cataracts. After an hour's 
delay, the boat having been got up, they re-em- 
barked their instruments and provisions. The ri- 
ver was 1705 yards broad, and had to be crossed ob- 
liquely, at a part where the waters rushed with 
extreme rapidity towards the bar over which they 
were precipitated. In the midst of this dangerous 
navigation they were overtaken by a thunder- 
storm accompanied by torrents of rain ; and after 
rowing twenty minutes, found that so far from 
having made progress they were approaching the 
fall. But, as the Indians redoubled their efforts, the 
danger was escaped, and the boat arrived at night- 
fall in the port of Maypures. The night was ex- 
tremely dark, and the village was at a consider- 
able distance ; still, as the missionary caused copal- 
torches to be lighted, they proceeded. As the rain 
ceased the zancudoes re-appeared, and the flam- 
beaux being extinguished, they had to grope their 
way. One of their fellow-travellers, Don Nicolas 
Soto, slipped from a round trunk on which he at- 
tempted to cross a gully, but fortunately received 
no injury. To add to their distress, the pilot talked 
incessantly of venomous snakes, water-serpents, and 
tigers. On their arrival at the mission they found 
the inhabitants immersed in profound sleep, and 
nothing was heard but the cries of nocturnal birds 
and the distant roar of the cataract. 

At the village of Maypures they remained three 
days, for the purpose of examining the neighbour- 



UPPER CATARACT. 251 

hood. The cataract, called by the Indians Quit- 
tuna, is formed by an archipelago of islands, filling 
the bed of the river to the length of 6395 yards, 
and by dikes of rock which occasionally join them 
together. The largest of these shelves or bars are at 
Purimarimi, Manimi, and the Salto de la Sardina, 
the last of which is about nine feet high. To ob- 
tain a full view of the falls, the travellers fre- 
quently ascended the eminence of Manimi, a gra- 
nitic ridge rising from the savannah, to the north 
of the dins ;h. " When one attains the summit of 
the rock, ,; says Humboldt, u he suddenly sees a 
sheet of fo m a mile in extent. Enormous masses 
of rock, o an iron blackness, emerge from its bo- 
som, som* of a mammillar form, and grouped like 
basaltic 1 Is ; others resembling towers, castles, and. 
ruins. eir dark colour contrasts with the silvery 

whiten r of the foam. Every rock and islet is 
covered th tufts of stately trees. From the base 
of thes »rominences, as far as the eye can reach, 
there " gs over the river a dense mist, through 
which ; tops of majestic palms are seen to pene- 
trate, t every hour of the day this sheet of foam 
presei , different aspect. Sometimes the moun- 
tain isies and palms project their long shadows over 
it ; sometimes the rays of the setting sun are re- 
fracted in the humid cloud that covers the cataract, 
when coloured arches form, vanish, and re-appear 
by turns." 

The mountain of Manimi forms the eastern limit 
of a plain, which presented the same appearance as 
that of Atures. Toward the west is a level space 
formerly occupied by the waters of the river, and 
exhibiting rocks similar to the islands of the cata- 



252 MISSION OF MAYPURES. 

racts. These masses are also crowned with palms ; 
and one of them, called Keri, is celebrated in the 
country for a white spot, which Humboldt supposed 
to be a large nodule of quartz. In an islet amidst 
the rush of waters there is a similar spot. The 
Indians view them with a mysterious interest, be- 
lieving they see in the former the image of the 
moon, and in the latter that of the sun. 

The inhabitants of the mission were Guahiboes 
and Macoes. In the time of the Jesuits the num- 
ber was six hundred, but it had gradually fallen to 
less than sixty. They are represented as gentle, 
temperate, and cleanly. They cultivate plantains 
and cassava, and, like most of the Indians of the 
Orinoco, prepare nourishing drinks from the fruits 
of palms and other plants. Some of them were oc- 
cupied in manufacturing a coarse pottery. Cattle, 
and especially goats, had at one time multiplied 
considerably at Maypures; but at the period of 
Humboldt's visit none were to be seen in any mis- 
sion of the Orinoco. Tame macaws were seen round 
the huts, and flying in the fields like pigeons. Their 
plumage being of the most vivid tints of purple, 
blue, and yellow, these birds are a great ornament 
to the Indian farm-yards. 

Round the village there grows a majestic tree of 
the genus Unona, with straight branches rising in 
the form of a pyramid. The infusion of the aro- 
matic fruit is a powerful febrifuge, and is used as 
such in preference to the astringent bark of the Cin- 
chona or Bonplandia trifoliata. 

The longitude of this place was found to be 68° 
17' 9", the latitude 5° 13' 57", differing from the best 
maps then existing by half a degree of longitude and 



PASSAGE OF THE UPPER CATARACT. 253 

as much of latitude. The thermometer during the 
night indicated from 80° to 84°, and in the day 86°. 
The water of the river was 81*7°, and that of a 
spring 82°. 

Having spent some days at the mission of May- 
pures, the travellers embarked at two in the after- 
noon in the canoe procured at the turtle island, 
which, although considerably damaged by the care- 
lessness of the Indians, was j udged sufficient for the 
long voyage they had yet to perform. Above the 
great cataracts they found themselves as it were in a 
new world. Toward the east, in the extreme distance, 
rose the great chain of the Cunavami mountains, 
one of the peaks of which, named Calidamini, re- 
flects at sunset a reddish glare of light. After encoun- 
tering one more rapid they entered upon smooth 
water, and passed the night in a rocky island. 

On the 22d they set out at an early hour. The 
morning was damp but delicious, and not a breath 
of wind was felt ; a perpetual calm reigning to the 
south of the cataracts, which Humboldt attributes 
to the windings of the rivers, the shelter of moun- 
tains, and the almost incessant rains. In the valley 
of the Amazon, on the contrary, a strong breeze 
rises every day at two in the afternoon, which, how- 
ever, is felt only along the line of the current. It 
always moves against the stream, and by means of 
it a boat may go up the Amazon under sail a length 
of 2590 miles. The great salubrity of this district 
is probably owing to the gale. They passed the 
mouths of several streams, and admired the gran- 
deur of the cerros of Lipapo, a branch of the Cordil- 
lera of Parime, the aspect of which varied every hour 
of the day. At sunrise, the dense vegetation with 



254 SCENERY OF THE UPPER ORINOCO. 

which they are covered was tinged with a dark- 
green inclining to brown, while broad and deep 
shadows were projected over the neighbouring plain, 
forming a strong contrast with the vivid light diffused 
around. Toward noon the shadows disappeared, 
and the whole group was veiled in an azure vapour, 
which softened the outlines of the rocks, moderated 
the effects of light, and gave the landscape an aspect 
of calmness and repose. Landing at the mouth of 
the Rio Vichada to examine the vegetation, they 
found numberless small granitic rocks rising from 
the plain, and presenting the appearance of prisms, 
ruined columns, and towers. The forest was thin, 
and at the confluence of the two rivers, the rocks 
and even the soil were covered with mosses and 
lichens. M. Bonpland found several specimens of 
Laurus cinnaniomoides, a very aromatic species of 
cinnamon, which, together with the American nut- 
meg, the pimento, and Laurus pucheri, Humboldt 
remarks, would have become important objects of 
trade, had not Europe, at the period when the New 
World was discovered, been already accustomed to 
the spices of India. The travellers rested at night on 
the bank of the Orinoco, at the mouth of the Zama. 
This river is one of those which are said to have black 
water, as it appears of a dark-brown or greenish- 
black ; and here they entered the system of rivers 
to which the name of Aguas Negras is given. The 
colour is supposed to be owing to a solution of ve- 
getable matter, and the Indians attribute it to the 
roots of sarsaparilla. 

At five in the morning of the 23d they continued 
their voyage, and passed the mouth of the Rio Ma- 
taveni. The banks were still skirted by forests, but 



SAN FERNANDO DE ATABIPO. 255 

the mountains on the east retired farther back. The 
traces left by the floods were not higher than eight 
feet. At the place where they passed the night, 
multitudes of bats issued from the crevices, and ho- 
vered around their hammocks. Next day a violent 
rain obliged them to set out at a very early hour. 
In the afternoon they landed at the Indian planta- 
tions of San Fernando, and after midnight arrived 
at the mission, where they were received with the 
kindest hospitality. 

The village of San Fernando de Atabipo is si- 
tuated near the confluence of the Orinoco, the Ata- 
bipo, and the Guaviare ; the latter of which Hum- 
boldt thinks might with more propriety be consider- 
ed the continuation of the Orinoco than a branch. 
The number of inhabitants did not exceed 226. 
The missionary had the title of president of the sta- 
tions on the Orinoco, and superintended the twenty- 
six ecclesiastics settled on its banks, as well as on those 
of the Rio Negro, Casiquiare, Atabipo, and Caura. 
The Indians were a little more civilized than the 
inmates of the other establishments, and cultivated 
cacao in small quantities, together with cassava and 
plantains. They were surrounded with good pastur- 
age, but not more than seven or eight cows were to be 
seen. The most striking object in the neighbourhood 
was the pirijao palm, which has a thorny trunk 
more than sixty-four feet high, pinnated leaves, and 
clusters of fruits two or three inches in diameter, 
and of a purple colour. The fruit furnishes a fari- 
naceous substance, of a colour resembling that of 
the yolk of an egg, which when boiled or roasted 
affords a very wholesome and agreeable aliment 

On entering the Rio Atabipo the travellers found 



256 



CHANGE OP SCENERY. 



a great change in the scenery, the colour of the 
stream, and the constitution of the atmosphere. The 
trees were of a different species ; the mosquitoes had 
entirely disappeared, and the waters, instead of be- 
ing turbid, and loaded with earthy matter, were of 
a dark colour, clear, agreeable to the taste, and two 
degrees cooler. So great is their transparency, that 
the smallest fishes are distinguishable at the depth 
of twenty or thirty feet, and the bottom, which 
consists of white quartzy sand, is usually visible. 
The banks covered with plants, among which rise 
numerous palms, are reflected by the surface of the 
river with a vividness almost as bright as that of 
the objects themselves. Above the mission no cro- 
codiles occur, but their place is supplied by bavas 
and fresh-water dolphins. The chiguires, howling- 
monkeys, and zamuro-vultures had disappeared, 
though jaguars were still seen, and the water-snakes 
were extremely numerous. 

On the 26th the travellers advanced only two or 
three leagues, and passed the night on a rock near 
the Indian plantations of Guapasoso. At two in 
the morning they again set out, and continued to 
ascend the river. About noon they passed the gra- 
nitic rock named Piedra del Tigre, and at the close 
of the day had great difficulty in finding a suitable 
place for sleeping, owing to the inundation of the 
banks. It rained hard from sunset, and as the mis- 
sionary had a fit of tertian fever they re-embarked 
immediately after midnight. At dawn they landed 
to examine a gigantic ceiba-tree, which was nearly 
128 feet in height, with a diameter of fifteen or six- 
teen feet. On the 29th the air was cooler, but loaded 
with vapours, and the current being strong they ad- 

6 



ANECDOTE OF AN INDIAN WOMAN. 257 

vanced slowly. It was night when they arrived 
at the mission of San Baltasar, where they lodged 
with a Catalan priest,, a lively and agreeable person. 
The village was built with great regularity, and the 
plantations seemed better cultivated than elsewhere. 
At a late hour in the morning they left his abode, 
and after ascending the Atabipo for five miles en- 
tered the Rio Temi. A granitic rock on the west- 
ern bank of the former river attracted their atten- 
tion. It is called the Piedra de la Guahiba or 
Piedra de la Madre, and commemorates one of those 
acts of oppression of which Europeans are guilty in 
all countries whenever they come into contact with 
savages. In 1797; the missionary of San Fernando 
had led his people to the banks of the Rio Gua- 
viare on a hostile excursion. In an Indian hut they 
found a Guahibo woman, with three children, oc- 
cupied in preparing cassava-flour. She and her 
little ones attempted to escape, but were seized and 
carried away. The unhappy female repeatedly fled 
with her children from the village, but was always 
traced by her Christian countrymen. At length 
the friar, after causing her to be severely beaten, 
resolved to separate her from her family, and sent 
her up the Atabipo toward the missions of the Rio 
Negro. Ignorant of the fate intended for her, but 
judging by the direction of the sun that her perse- 
cutors were carrying her far from her native coun- 
try, she burst her fetters, leaped from the boat, and 
swam to the left bank of the river. She landed on a 
rock ; but the president of the establishment ordered 
the Indians to row to the shore and lay lands on her. 
She was brought back in the evening, stretched upon 
the bare stone (the Piedra de la Madre), scourged 

Q 



258 ANECDOTE OF AN INDIAN WOMAN. 

with straps of manatee leather,, which are the or- 
dinary whips of the country, and then dragged to 
the mission of Javita, her hands bound behind her 
back. It was the rainy season, the night was ex- 
cessively dark, forests believed to be impenetrable 
stretched from that station to San Fernando over 
an extent of 86 miles, and the only communication 
between these places was by the river; yet the 
Guahibo mother, breaking her bonds, and eluding 
the vigilance of her guards, escaped under night, 
and on the fourth morning was seen at the vil- 
lage, hovering around the hut which contained 
her children. On this journey she must have un- 
dergone hardships from which the most robust man 
would have shrunk ; was forced to live upon ants, 
to swim numerous streams, and to make her way 
through thickets and thorny lianas. And the re- 
ward of all this courage and devotion was— her re- 
moval to one of the missions of the Upper Orinoco, 
where, despairing of ever seeing her beloved chil- 
dren, and refusing all kind of nourishment, she 
died, a victim to the bigotry and barbarity of wretches 
blasphemously calling themselves the ministers of a 
religion which inculcates universal benevolence. 

Above the mouth of the Guasucavi the travellers 
entered the Rio Temi, which runs from south to 
north. The ground was flat and covered with trees, 
over which rose the pirijao palm with its clusters of 
peach-like fruits, and the Mauritia aculeata, with 
fan-shaped leaves pointing downwards, and marked 
with concentric circles of blue and green. Wherever 
the river forms sinuosities the forest is flooded to 
a great extent ; and,, to shorten the route, the boat 
frequently pushed through the woods along open 



ASCENT OF THE RIO TEMI. 259 

avenues of water four or five feet broad. An Indian 
furnished with a large knife stood at the bow con- 
tinually cutting the branches which obstructed the 
passage. In the thickest part of it a shoal of fresh- 
water dolphins issued from beneath the trees and 
surrounded the vessel. At five in the evening the 
travellers, after sticking for some time between two 
trunks and experiencing other difficulties, regained 
the proper channel, and passed the night near one of 
the columnar masses of granite which occasionally 
protrude from the level surface. 

Setting out before daybreak, they remained in 
the bed of the river till sunrise, when, to avoid 
the force of the current, they again entered the in- 
undated forest ; and soon arriving at the junction of 
the Temi with the Tuamini, they followed the lat- 
ter toward the south-west. At eleven they reached 
San Antonio de Javita, where they had the pleasure 
of finding a very intelligent and agreeable monk: 
though they were obliged to remain nearly a w r eek 
while the boat was carried by land to the Rio Ne- 
gro. For two days the travellers had felt an ex- 
traordinary irritation on the joints of the fingers 
and on the back of the hands, which the missionary 
informed them was caused by insects. Nothing could 
be distinguished with a lens but parallel streaks of a 
whitish colour, the form of which has obtained for 
these animalculse the name of aradores, or plough- 
men. A mulatto woman engaged to extirpate them 
one by one, and, digging with a small bit of pointed 
wood, at length succeeded in extracting a little round 
bag ; but Humboldt did not possess sufficient pa- 
tience to wait for relief from so tedious an operation. 
Next day, however, an Indian effected a radical cure 



260 MISSION OF SAN ANTONIO. 

by means of the infusion of bark stripped from a 
certain shrub. 

In 1755, before the expedition to the boundaries, 
the country between the missions of Javita and San 
Baltasar was dependent on Brazil, and the Portu- 
guese had advanced from the Rio Negro as far as 
the banks of the Temi. An Indian chief named 
Javita, one of their auxiliaries, pushed his hostile 
excursions to a distance of more than 345 miles ; 
and, being furnished with a patent for drawing the 
natives from the forest " for the conquest of souls," 
did not fail to make use of it for selling slaves to 
his allies. When Solano, one of the leaders of the 
expedition just described, arrived at San Fernan- 
do de Atabipo, he seized the adventurer, and by 
treating him with gentleness gained him over to 
the interests of the Spaniards. He was still living 
when the travellers proceeded to the Rio Negro; 
and, as he attended them on all their botanical 
excursions, they obtained much information from 
him. He assured them, that he had seen almost 
all the Indian tribes which inhabit the vast coun- 
tries between the Upper Orinoco, the Rio Negro, 
the Irinida, and the Jupura, devour human flesh. 
Their cannibalism he considered as the effect of a 
system of revenge, as they eat only enemies who 
are made prisoners in battle. 

The climate of the mission of San Antonio de 
Javita is so rainy that the sun and stars are seldom 
to be seen, and the padre informed the travellers 
that it sometimes rained without intermission for 
four or five months. The water that fell in five 
hours on the 1st of May, Humboldt found to be 
21 lines in height, and on the 3d of May he col- 



GIGANTIC TREES ELASTIC GUM. 261 

lected 14 lines in three hours ; whereas at Paris 
there fall only 28 or 30 lines in as many weeks. The 
temperature is lower than at Maypures, but higher 
than on the Rio Negro; the thermometer standing at 
80° or 80-6° by day, and at 698° by night. 

The Indians of the mission amounted only to 160. 
Some of them were employed in the construction of 
boats, which are formed of the trunks of a species of 
laurel (Ocotea cymbaruni), hollowed by means of 
fire and the axe. These trees attain a height of 
more than a hundred feet, and have a yellow resin- 
ous wood which emits an agreeable odour. The forest 
between Javita and Pimichin affords an immense 
quantity of gigantic timber, as tall occasionally as 116 
or 117 feet; but as the trees give out branches only 
towards the summit, the travellers were disappoint- 
ed, amid so great a profusion of unknown species, 
in not being able to procure the leaves and flowers. 
Besides, as it rained incessantly so long a time, 
M. Bonpland lost the greater part of his dried spe- 
cimens. Although no pines or firs occur in these 
woods, balsams, resins, and aromatic gums, are abun- 
dantly furnished by many other trees, and are col- 
lected as objects of trade by the people of Javita. 

At the mission of San Baltasar they had seen 
the natives preparing a kind of elastic gum, which 
they said was found under ground ; and in the fo- 
rests at Javita, the old Indian who accompanied 
them showed that it was obtained by digging seve- 
ral feet deep among the roots of two particular trees, 
the Hevea of Aublet and one with pinnate leaves. 
This substance, which bears the name of dapicho, 
is white, corky, and brittle, with a laminated struc- 
ture and undulating edges ; but on being roasted it 



262 NATIVE INDIANS. 

assumes a black colour,, and acquires the properties 
of caoutchouc. 

The natives of these countries live in hordes of 
forty or fifty,, and unite under a common chief only 
when they wage war with their neighbours. As 
the different tribes speak different languages they 
have little communication. They cultivate cassava, 
plantains, and sometimes maize; but shift from place 
to place, so that they entirely lose the advantages 
resulting in other countries from agricultural ha- 
bits. They have two great objects of worship, — the 
good principle, Cachimana, who regulates the sea- 
sons and favours the harvests ; and the evil prin- 
ciple, Jolokiamo, less powerful, but more active and 
artful. They have no idols; but the botuto, or 
sacred trumpet, is an object of veneration, the ini- 
tiation into the mysteries of which requires pure 
manners and a single life. Women are not permit- 
ted to see it, and are excluded from all the ceremo- 
nies of this religion. 

It took the Indians more than four days to drag 
the boat upon rollers to the Rio Pimichin. One of 
them, a tall strong man, was bitten by a snake, and 
was brought to the mission in a very alarming con- 
dition. He had dropped down senseless, and was 
afterwards seized with nausea, vertigo, and a de- 
termination of blood to the head, but was cured 
by an infusion of raiz de mato; respecting the plant 
furnishing which Humboldt could obtain no satis- 
factory information, although he supposes it to be of 
the family of Apocynese. In the hut of this indivi- 
dual he observed balls of an earthy and impure salt, 
two or three inches in diameter. It is obtained by 
reducing to ashes the spadix and fruit of a palm-tree, 



FORESTS SNAKES — RIO NEGRO. 263 

and consists of muriate of potash and soda, caustic 
lime, and other ingredients. The Indians dissolve a 
few grains in water,, which they drop on their food. 

On the 5th May the travellers set off on foot to fol- 
low their canoe. They had to ford numerous streams,, 
the passage of which was somewhat dangerous on 
account of the number of snakes in the marshes, 
After passing through dense forests of lofty trees,, 
among which they noted several new species of coffee 
and other plants, they arrived toward evening at a 
small farm on the Pinrichin, where they passed the 
night in a deserted hut, not without apprehension of 
being bitten by serpents, as they were obliged to lie 
on the floor. Before they took possession of this shed 
their attendants killed two great Mapanare snakes, 
and in the morning a large viper was found beneath 
the jaguar-skin on which one of them had slept. 
This species of serpent is white on the belly, spot- 
ted with brow r n and black on the back, and grows 
to the length of four or five feet. Humboldt re- 
marks, that if vipers and rattlesnakes had such a 
disposition for offence as is usually supposed, the 
human race could not have resisted them in some 
parts of America. 

Embarking at sunrise they proceeded down the 
Pinrichin, which is celebrated for the number of its 
windings. It is navigable during the whole year, 
and has only one rapid. In four hours and a half 
they entered the Rio Negro. " The morning/' says 
Humboldt, " was cool and beautiful ; we had been 
confined thirty-six days in a narrow canoe, so un- 
steady that it would have been overset by any one 
rising imprudently from his seat, without warning 
the rowers to preserve its balance by leaning to the 



264 RIO NEGRO A TRIBUTARY 

opposite side. We had suffered severely from the 
stings of insects, but we had withstood the insalu- 
brity of the climate ; we had passed without acci- 
dent the numerous falls and bars that impede the 
navigation of the rivers, and often render it more 
dangerous than long voyages by sea. 

u After all that we had endured, I may be allowed 
to mention the satisfaction which we felt in having 
reached the tributaries of the Amazon, — in having 
passed the isthmus which separates two great sys- 
tems of rivers, — and in having attained a certainty 
of fulfilling the most important object of our jour- 
ney, — that of determining by astronomical observa- 
tions the course of that arm of the Orinoco which 
joins the Rio Negro, and whose existence had been 
alternately proved and denied for half a century. In 
these inland regions of the New Continent we almost 
accustom ourselves to consider man as inessential to 
the order of nature. The earth is overloaded with 
plants, of which nothing impedes the development. 
An immense layer of mould evinces the uninter- 
rupted action of the organic powers. The crocodiles 
and boas are masters of the river; the jaguar, pe- 
cari, dante, and monkeys of numerous species, tra- 
verse the forest without fear and without danger, 
residing there as in an ancient heritage. On the 
ocean and on the sands of Africa, we with difficulty 
reconcile ourselves to the disappearance of man; 
but here his absence, in a fertile country clothed 
with perpetual verdure, produces a strange and 
melancholy feeling." 

The Rio Negro, which flows eastward into the 
Amazon, was for ages considered of great political 
importance by the Spanish government, as it would 



OF THE AMAZON. 265 

have furnished to the Portuguese an easy introduc- 
tion into the missions of Guiana. The jealousies 
of these rival nations, the ignorance and diversified 
languages of the Indians, the difficulty of pene- 
trating into these inland regions, and other causes, 
rendered the knowledge of the sources as well as 
the tributaries of the Negro and Orinoco extremely 
defective. To endeavour to throw some light on 
this geographical point, and in particular to de- 
termine the course of that branch of the Orinoco 
which joins the Rio Negro, was the great object of 
Humboldt's journey. This last, or Black River, is so 
named on account of the dark colour of its waters, 
which are of an amber hue wherever it is shallow, 
and dark-brown wherever the depth is great. After 
entering it by the Pimichin, and passing the rapid at 
the confluence of the two streams, the travellers soon 
reached the mission of Maroa, containing 150 In- 
dians, where they purchased some fine toucans. Pass- 
ing the station of Tomo they visited that of Davipe, 
where they were received by the missionary with 
great hospitality. Here they bought some fowls 
and a pig, which interested their servants so much 
that they pressed them to depart, in order to reach 
the island of Dapa where the animal might be roast- 
ed. They arrived at sunset, and found some cul- 
tivated ground and an Indian hut. Four natives 
were seated round a fire eating a kind of paste, 
consisting of large ants, of which several bags were 
suspended over the fire. There were more than 
fourteen persons in this small cabin, lying naked in 
hammocks placed above each other. They received 
Father Zea with great joy, and two young women 
prepared cassava- cakes ; after which the travellers 



266 MISSION OF SAN CARLOS. 

retired to rest. The family slept only till two in 
the morning,, when they began to converse in their 
hammocks. This custom of being awake four or 
five hours before sunrise Humboldt found to be 
general among the people of Guiana; and,, hence, 
when an attempt is made to surprise them, the first 
part of the night is chosen for the purpose. 

Proceeding down the Rio Negro they passed the 
mouth of the Casiquiare, the river by which a com- 
munication is effected between the former and the 
Orinoco ; and towards evening reached the mission 
of San Carlos del Rio Negro, with the commander 
of which they lodged. The military establishment 
of this frontier post consisted of seventeen soldiers, 
ten of whom were detached for the security of the 
neighbouring stations. The voyage from the mouth 
of the Rio Negro to Grand Para occupying only 
twenty or twenty-five days, it would not have taken 
much more time to have gone down the Amazon 
to the coast of Brazil, than to return by the Casi- 
quiare and Orinoco to that of Caraccas ; but our tra- 
vellers were informed that it was difficult to pass 
from the Spanish to the Portuguese settlements ; 
and it was well for them that they declined this 
route, for they afterwards learned that instructions 
had been issued to seize and convey them to Lis- 
bon. This project, however, was not countenanced 
by the government at home, who, when informed 
of the zeal of its subaltern agents, gave instant orders 
that the philosophers should not be disturbed in their 
pursuits. 

Among the Indians of the Rio Negro they found 
some of those green pebbles known by the name of 
Amazon- stones, and which are worn as amulets. 



AMAZON-STONES CASIQUIARE. 267 

The form usually given to them is that of the Perse- 
politan cylinders longitudinally perforated. These 
hard substances denote a degree of civilisation supe- 
rior to that of the present inhabitants, who, so far 
from being able to cut them, imagine that they are 
naturally soft when taken out of the earth, and 
harden after they have been moulded by the hand. 
They were found to be jade or saussurite, approach- 
ing to compact felspar, of a colour passing from 
apple to emerald green, translucent on the edges, 
and taking a fine polish ; but the substance usually 
called Amazon-stone in Europe is different, be- 
ing a common felspar of a similar colour, coming 
from the Uralian Mountains and Lake Onega in 
Russia. 

Connected with this mineral are the warlike wo- 
men, whom the travellers of the sixteenth century 
named the Amazons of the New World ; and re- 
garding whom Humboldt found no satisfactory ac- 
counts, although he is disposed to believe that their 
existence was not merely imaginary. 

The travellers passed three days at San Carlos, 
watching the greater part of each night, in the hope 
of seizing the moment of the passage of some star 
over the meridian ; but the sky was continually 
obscured by vapours. On the 10th May they em- 
barked a little before sunrise to go up the Rio Negro. 
The morning was fine, but as the heat increased the 
firmament became darkened. Passing between the 
islands of Zaruma and Mibita, covered with dense 
vegetation, and ascending the rapids of the Piedra 
de Uinumane, they entered the Casiquiare at the 
distance of 9£ miles from the fort of San Carlos. 
The rock at the rapids was granite, traversed by 



268 ASCENT OF THE CASIQUIARE. 

numerous veins of quartz several inches broad. The 
night was spent at the mission of San Francisco 
Solano, on the left bank of the Casiquiare. The 
Indians were of two nations, the Pacimonales and 
Cheruvichahenas ; and from the latter the travellers 
endeavoured to obtain some information respecting 
the upper part and sources of the Rio Negro, but 
without success. In one of the huts of the former 
tribe they purchased two large birds, a toucan 
and a macaw, to add to the already considerable 
stock which they possessed. Most of the animals 
were confined in small cages, while others ran at 
liberty all over the boat. At the approach of rain, 
the macaws uttered frightful screams, the toucan 
was desirous of gaining the shore in order to fish, 
and the little monkeys went in search of Father Zea 
to obtain shelter in his large sleeves. At night the 
leather case containing their provisions was placed in 
the centre ; then the instruments and cages ; around 
which were suspended the hammocks of the travel- 
lers; and beyond them the Indians slept, protected 
by a circle of fires to keep off the jaguars. 

On the 11th they left the mission of San Francis- 
co Solano at a late hour to make a short day's jour- 
ney, for the vapours had begun to break up, and the 
travellers were unwilling to go far from the mouth 
of the Casiquiare without determining the longi- 
tude and latitude. This they had an opportunity 
of doing at night in the neighbourhood of a solitary 
granite rock, the Piedra di Culimacari, which they 
found to be in lat. 2° 0' 42" north, and long. 67° 
13' 26" west. The determination was of great im- 
portance in a geographical and political point of 
view, for the greatest errors existed in maps, and 



MOSQUITOES INDIANS. 269 

the equator had been considered as the boundary 
between the Spanish and Portuguese possessions. 

Leaving the Rock of Culimacari at half after one 
in the morning, they proceeded against the current, 
which was very rapid. The waters of the Casi- 
quiare are white, and the mosquitoes again com- 
menced their invasions, becoming more numerous 
as the boat receded from the black stream of the Rio 
Negro. In the whole course of the Casiquiare they 
did not find in the Christian settlements a popula- 
tion of 200 individuals, and the free Indians have 
retired from its banks. During a great part of the 
year the natives subsist on ants. At the mission 
of Mandavaca, which they reached in the evening, 
they found a monk who had spent twenty years in 
the country, and whose legs were so spotted by the 
stings of insects that the whiteness of the skin could 
scarcely be perceived. He complained of his soli- 
tude, and the sad necessity which often compelled 
him to leave the most atrocious crimes unpunished. 
An indigenous alcayde, or overseer, had a few years 
before eaten one of his wives, after fattening her by 
good feeding. " You cannot imagine," said the 
missionary, ' ' all the perversity of this Indian family. 
You receive men of a new tribe into the village ; 
they appear to be good, mild, and industrious ; but 
suffer them to take part in an incursion to bring in 
the natives, and you can scarcely prevent them from 
murdering all they meet, and hiding some portions 
of the dead bodies." The travellers had in their 
canoe a fugitive Indian from the Guaisia, who in a 
few weeks had become sufficiently civilized to be 
very useful. As he was mild and intelligent, they 
had some desire of taking him into their service ; 



270 SCENERY OF THE CASIQUIARE. 

but discovering that his anthropophagous propensi- 
ties remained they gave up the idea. He told them 
that " his relations (the people of his tribe) preferred 
the inside of the hands in inan, as in bears/' accom- 
panying the assertion with gestures of savage joy. 

Although the Indians of the Casiquiare readily 
return to their barbarous habits, they manifest, 
while in the missions, intelligence, industry, and a 
great facility in learning the Spanish tongue. As 
the villages are usually inhabited by three or four 
tribes who do not understand each other, the lan- 
guage of their instructor affords a general means of 
communication. The soil on the Casiquiare is of 
excellent quality. Rice, beans, cotton, sugar, and 
indigo, thrive wherever they have been tried ; but 
the humidity of the air, and the swarms of insects, 
oppose almost insuperable obstacles to cultivation. 
Immense bands of white ants destroy every thing 
that comes in their way, insomuch, that when a mis- 
sionary would cultivate salad or any European cu- 
linary vegetable, he fills an old boat with soil, and 
having sown the seeds suspends it with cords, or ele- 
vates it on posts. 

From the 14th to the 21st the travellers continued 
to ascend the Casiquiare, which flowed with consi- 
derable rapidity, having a breadth of 426 yards, 
and bordered by two enormous walls of trees hung 
with lianas. No openings could be discovered in 
these fences ; and at night the Indians had to cut a 
small spot with their hatchets to make room enough 
for their beds, it being impossible to remain in the 
canoe on account of the mosquitoes and heavy rains. 
Great difficulty was experienced in finding wood to 
make a fire, the branches being so full of sap that 



BIFURCATION OF THE ORINOCO. 271 

they would scarcely burn. On shore the pothoses, 
arums,, and lianas, furnished so thick a covering, 
that although it rained violently they were com- 
pletely sheltered. At their last resting-place on the 
Casiquiare, the jaguars carried off their great dog 
while they slept. 

On the 21st May they again entered the channel 
of the Orinoco, three leagues below the mission of 
Esmeralda. Here the scenery wore a very imposing 
aspect, lofty granitic mountains rising on the north- 
ern bank. The celebrated bifurcation of the river 
takes place in this manner : The stream, issuing 
from among the mountains, reaches the opening of a 
valley or depression of the ground which terminates 
at the Rio Negro, and divides into two branches. 
The principal branch continues its course toward 
the west -north-west, turning round the group of the 
mountains of Parime, while the other flows off south- 
ward and joins the Rio Negro. By this latter 
branch our travellers ascended from the river just 
mentioned, and again entered the Orinoco, four 
weeks after they had left it near the mouth of the 
Guaviare. They had still a voyage of 863 miles 
to perform before reaching Angostura. 



272 MOUNTAINS OF DUIDA. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Route from Esmeralda to Angostura. 

Mission of Esmeralda — Curare Poison — Indians — Duida Moun- 
tain — Descent of the Orinoco — Cave of Ataruipe — Raudalito of 
Carucari — Mission of Uruana — Character of the Otomacs — 
Clay eaten by the Natives — Arrival at Angostura — The Travel- 
lers attacked by Fever — Ferocity of the Crocodiles. 

Opposite the point where the division of the river 
takes place, there rises in the form of an amphi- 
theatre a group of granitic mountains, of which 
the principal one bears the name of Duida. It is 
about 8500 feet high ; and being perpendicular on 
the south and west, bare and stony on the sum- 
mit, and clothed on its less steep declivities with 
vast forests, presents a magnificent spectacle. At 
the foot of this huge mass is placed the most solitary 
and remote Christian settlement on the Upper Ori- 
noco, — the mission of Esmeralda, containing eighty 
inhabitants. It is surrounded by a beautiful plain, 
covered with grasses of various species, pine-apples, 
and clumps of Mauritia palm, and watered by lim- 
pid rills. 

There was no monk at the village ; but the tra- 
vellers were received with kindness by an old offi- 
cer, who, taking them for Catalonian shopkeepers, 
admired their simplicity when he saw the bundles 
of paper in which their plants were preserved, and 

5 



CURARE POISON. 273 

which he supposed they intended for sale. Not- 
withstanding the smallness of the mission three In- 
dian languages were spoken in it ; and among the in- 
habitants were some Zamboes, mulattoes, and cop- 
per-coloured people. A mineralogical error gave ce- 
lebrity to Esmeralda, the rock-crystals and chlori- 
tic quartzes of Duida having been mistaken for dia- 
monds and emeralds. The converts live in great 
poverty, and their misery is augmented by prodigi- 
ous swarms of mosquitoes. Yet the situation of the 
establishment is exceedingly picturesque ; the sur- 
rounding country is possessed of great fertility ; and 
plantains, indigo, sugar, and cacao, might be pro- 
duced in abundance. 

This village is the most celebrated spot on the 
Orinoco for the manufacture of the curare, a very 
active poison employed in war and in the chase, as 
well as a remedy for gastric obstructions. Erro- 
neous ideas had been entertained of this substance ; 
but our travellers had an opportunity of seeing it 
prepared. When they arrived at Esmeralda, most 
of the Indians had just finished an excursion to 
gather juvias or the fruit of the bertholletia, and 
the liana which yields the curare. Their return 
was celebrated by a festival, which lasted several 
days, during which they were in a state of intoxi- 
cation. One less drunk than the rest was employ- 
ed in preparing the poison. He was the chemist 
of the place, and boasted of his skill, extolling the 
composition as superior to any thing that could be 
made in Europe. The liana which yields it is named 
bejuco, and appeared to be of the Strychnos family. 
The branches are scraped with a knife, and the 
bark that comes oif is bruised, and reduced to very 



274 CURARE POISON. 

thin filaments on the stone employed for grinding 
cassava. A cold infusion is prepared by pouring 
water on this fibrous mass, in a funnel made of a 
plantain-leaf rolled up in the form of a cone, and 
placed in another somewhat stronger made of palm- 
leaves, the whole supported by a slight framework. 
A yellowish fluid filters through the apparatus. It 
is the venomous liquor ; which, however, acquires 
strength only when concentrated by evaporation in 
a large earthen pot. To give it consistence, it is 
mixed with a glutinous vegetable juice, obtained 
from a tree named kiracaguera. At the moment 
when this addition is made to the fluid, now kept 
in a state of ebullition, the whole blackens, and 
coagulates into a substance resembling tar or thick 
syrup. The curare may be tasted without danger ; 
for, like the venom of serpents, it only acts when in- 
troduced directly into the blood, and the Indians 
consider it as an excellent stomachic. It is univer- 
sally employed by them in hunting, the tips of 
their arrows being covered with it ; arid the usual 
mode of killing domestic fowls is to scratch the skin 
with one of these infected weapons. Other species of 
vegetable poison are manufactured in various parts 
of Guiana. 

After seeing this composition prepared, the phi- 
losophers accompanied the artist to the festival of 
the juvias. In the hut where the revellers were as- 
sembled, large roasted monkeys blackened by smoke 
were ranged against the wall. Humboldt imagines 
that the habit of eating animals so much resembling 
man has in some degree contributed to diminish the 
horror of anthropophagy among savages. Apes when 
thus cooked, and especially such as have a very 



INDIAN FEAST DUIDA. 275 

round head, bear a hideous likeness to a child ; and 
for this reason such Europeans as are obliged to feed 
upon them separate the head and hands before the 
dish is presented at their tables. The flesh is very- 
lean and dry. 

Among the articles brought by the Indians from 
their expedition were various interesting vegetable 
productions ; fruits of different species, reeds up- 
wards of fifteen feet long, perfectly straight and free 
of knots, and bark used for making shirts. The 
women were employed in serving the men with the 
food already mentioned, fermented liquors, and palm- 
cabbage, but were not permitted to join in the festi- 
vities. Among all the tribes of the Orinoco the fe- 
males live in a sort of slavery, almost the whole labour 
devolving upon them. Polygamy is frequently prac- 
tised, and on the other hand a kind of polyandry is 
established in places where the fair sex are less nu- 
merous. When a native who has several wives be- 
comes a Christian, the missionaries compel him to 
choose her whom he prefers and to dismiss the others. 

The summit of Duida is so steep that no person 
has ever ascended it. At the beginning and end of 
the rainy season, small flames, which appear to shift, 
are seen upon it. On this account the mountain 
has been called a volcano, which, however, it is not. 
The granite whereof it is composed is full of veins, 
some of which being partly open, gaseous and in- 
flammable vapours may pass through them ; for it 
is not probable that the flames are caused by light- 
ning, the humidity of the climate being such that 
plants do not readily take fire. 

The travellers had an opportunity of seeing at 
Esmeralda some of the dwarf and fair Indians, 






276 PROGRESS DOWN THE RIVER. 

that ancient traditions had mentioned as living near 
the sources of the Orinoco. The Guaicas, or di- 
minutive class, whom they measured, were in ge- 
neral from 4 feet 10<| to 4 feet 11 <| inches in height ; 
and it was said that the whole tribe was of the same 
stature. The Guahariboes, or fair variety, were si- 
milar to the others in form and features, and differed 
only in having the skin of a lighter tint. 

On the 23d May the travellers left the mission 
of Esmeralda in a state of languor and weakness, 
caused by the torment of insects, bad nourishment, 
and a long voyage performed in a narrow and 
damp boat. They had not attempted to ascend the 
Orinoco towards its sources, as the country above 
that station was inhabited by hostile Indians; so 
that of the two geographical problems connected 
with the river, — the position of its sources and the 
nature of its communication with the Rio Negro,' — 
they had been obliged to content themselves with 
the solution of the latter. When they embarked 
they were surrounded by the mulattoes and others 
who considered themselves Spaniards, and who en- 
treated them to solicit from the governor of Angostura 
their return to the Llanos, or at least their removal 
to the missions of the Rio Negro. Humboldt plead- 
ed the cause of these proscribed men at a subsequent 
period; but his efforts were fruitless. The weather 
was very stormy, and the summit of Duida was en- 
veloped in clouds ; but the thunders which rolled 
there did not disturb the plains. Nor did they, ge- 
nerally speaking, observe in the valley of the Ori- 
noco those violent electric explosions which almost 
every night, during the rainy season, alarm the tra- 
veller along the Rio Magdalena. After four hours' 



CAVE OF ATARUIPE. 277 

navigation in descending the stream, they arrived 
at the bifurcation, and reposed on the same beach of 
the Casiquiare where, a few days before, their dog 
had been carried off by the jaguars. The cries of 
these animals were again heard through the whole 
night. The black tiger also occurs in these districts. 
It is celebrated for its strength and ferocity, and 
appears to be larger than the other, of which, how- 
ever, it is probably a variety. 

Leaving their resting-place before sunrise, and 
sailing with the current, they passed the mouths of 
the Cunucunumo, Guanami, and Puruname. The 
country was entirely desert, although rude figures 
representing the sun, the moon, and different ani- 
mals, are to be seen on the granite rocks ; attesting 
the former existence of a people more civilized than 
any that they had seen. 

On the 27th May they reached the mission of San 
Fernando de Atabipo, where they had lodged a month 
before on their ascent toward the Rio Negro. The 
president had allowed himself to become very un- 
easy respecting the object of their journey; and re- 
quested Humboldt to leave a writing in his hands, 
bearing testimony to the good order that prevailed in 
the Christian settlements on the Orinoco, and the 
mildness with which the natives were treated. This, 
however, he declined. From this point they retraced 
their former route, and passed the cataracts. On the 
31st, they landed before sunset at the Puerto de la 
Expedicion, for the purpose of visiting the cave of 
Ataruipe, which is the sepulchre of an extinct nation. 

" We climbed/' says Humboldt, " with difficulty 
and not without danger, a steep rock of granite, en- 
tirely destitute of soil. It would have been almost 



278 SPLENDID SCENERY. 

impossible to fix the foot on this smooth and highly- 
inclined surface, had not large crystals of felspar, 
which had resisted decomposition, projected from 
the rock so as to present points of support. Scarcely 
had we reached the summit of the mountain when 
we were struck with astonishment at the extraordi- 
nary appearance of the surrounding country : The 
foamy bed of the waters was filled with an archi- 
pelago of islands covered with palms. Toward the 
west, on the left bank of the Orinoco extended the 
savannahs of the Meta and Casanare, like a sea of 
verdure, the misty horizon of which was illuminated 
by the rays of the setting sun. The mighty orb, 
like a globe of fire suspended over the plain, and 
the solitary peak of Uniana, which appeared more 
lofty from being wrapped in vapours that softened 
its outlines, contributed to impress a character of 
sublimity upon the scene. We looked down into a 
deep valley enclosed on every side. Birds of prey 
and goatsuckers winged their solitary way in this 
inaccessible circus. We found pleasure in following 
their fleeting shadows as they glided slowly over 
the flanks of the rock. 

cc A narrow ridge led us towards a neighbouring 
mountain, the rounded summit of which supported 
enormous blocks of granite. These masses are more 
than 40 or 50 feet in diameter, and present a form 
so perfectly spherical, that, as they seem to touch the 
ground only by a small number of points, it might 
be supposed that the slightest shock of an earth- 
quake would roll them into the abyss. I do not 
remember to have seen anywhere else a similar phe- 
nomenon amid the decompositions of granitic depo- 
sites. If the balls rested upon a rock of a different 



SEPULCHRAL CAVE. 279 

nature, as is the case with the blocks of Jura, it 
might be supposed that they had been rounded by 
the action of water, or projected by the force of an 
elastic fluid ; but their position on the summit of a 
hill of the same nature, renders it more probable 
that they owe their origin to a gradual decomposi- 
tion of the rock. 

<e The most remote part of the valley is covered 
by a dense forest. In this shady and solitary place, 
on the declivity of a steep mountain, opens the cave 
of Ataruipe. It is less a cave than a projecting 
rock, in which the waters have scooped a great 
hollow, when, in the ancient revolutions of our 
planet, they had reached to that height. In this 
tomb of a whole extinct tribe we soon counted nearly 
600 skeletons in good preservation, and arranged so 
regularly that it would have been difficult to make 
an error in numbering them. Each skeleton rests 
upon a kind of basket formed of the petioles of 
palms. These baskets, which the natives call ma- 
pires, have the form of a square bag. Their size is 
proportional to the age of the dead ; and there 
are even some for infants which had died at the 
moment of birth. We saw them from ten inches 
and a half to three feet six inches and a half in 
length. All the skeletons are bent, and so entire 
that not a rib or a bone of the fingers or toes is 
wanting. The bones have been prepared in three 
different ways, — whitened in the air and sun, dyed 
red with onoto, a colouring matter obtained from 
the Bixa orellana ; or, like mummies, covered with 
odorous resins, and enveloped in leaves of heliconia 
and banana. The Indians related to us that the 
corpse is first placed in the humid earth, that the 



280 



SEPULCHRAL CAVE. 



flesh may be consumed by degrees. Some months 
after, it is taken out, and the flesh that remains 
on the bones is scraped off with sharp stones. 
Several tribes of Guiana still follow this practice. 
Near the mapires or baskets there were vases of half- 
burnt clay, which appeared to contain the bones of the 
same family. The largest of these vases or funereal 
urns are three feet two inches high, and four feet 
six inches long. They are of a greenish-gray colour, 
and have an oval form, not unpleasant to the eye. 
The handles are made in the form of crocodiles or 
serpents, and the edge is encircled by meanders, la- 
byrinths, and grecques, with narrow lines variously 
combined. These paintings are seen in all countries, 
among nations placed at the greatest distances from 
each other, and the most different in respect to civi- 
lisation. The inhabitants of the little mission of 
Maypures execute them at the present day on their 
most common pottery. They adorn the shields of 
the Otaheitans, the fishing- instruments of the Es- 
quimaux, the walls of the Mexican palace of Mitla, 
and the vases of Magna Grsecia. 

" We opened, to the great concern of our guides, 
several mapires, for the purpose of attentively exa- 
mining the form of the skulls. They all presented 
the characters of the American race, — two or three 
only approached the Caucasian form. We took 
several skulls, the skeleton of a child of six or seven 
years, and those of two full-grown men, of the na- 
tion of the Atures. All these bones, some painted 
red, others covered with odorous resins, were placed 
in the mapires or baskets already described. They 
formed nearly the whole lading of a mule ; and, as 
we were aware of the superstitious aversion which 



SEPULCHRAL CAVE. 281 

the natives show towards dead bodies,, after they 
have given them burial, we carefully covered the 
baskets with new mats. Unfortunately for us, the 
penetration of the Indians, and the extreme delicacy 
of their organs of smell, rendered our precautions use- 
less. Wherever we stopped, — in the Carib missions, 
in the midst of the Llanos, between Angostura and 
New Barcelona, — the natives collected around our 
mules to admire the monkeys which we had brought 
from the Orinoco. These good people had scarcely 
touched our baggage when they predicted the ap- 
proaching death of the beast of burden c that carried 
the dead/ In vain we told them that they were 
deceived in their conjectures, that the panniers con- 
tained bones of crocodiles and lamantins ; they per- 
sisted in repeating, that they smelt the resin which 
surrounded the skeletons, and that c they were some 
of their old relatives/ 

(C We departed in silence from the cave of Ataruipe. 
It was one of those calm and serene nights which 
are so common in the torrid zone. The stars shone 
with a mild and planetary light ; their scintillation 
was scarcely perceptible at the horizon, which seem- 
ed illuminated by the great nebulse of the southern 
hemisphere. Multitudes of insects diffused a red- 
dish light over the air. The ground, profusely co- 
vered with plants, shone with those living and mov- 
ing lights as if the stars of the firmament had fallen 
upon the savannah. On leaving the cave, we re- 
peatedly stopped to admire the beauty of this extra- 
ordinary place. The scented vanilla and festoons of 
bignonise decorated its entrance ; while the summit 
of the overhanging hill was crowned by arrowy 
palm-trees that waved murmuring in the air/' 



282 CATARACTS OF ATURES. 

Similar caves are said to exist to the north of the 
cataracts ; but the tombs of the Indians of the Ori- 
noco have not been sufficiently examined,, because 
they do not, like those of Peru, contain treasures. 

The travellers staid at the mission of Atures only 
so long as was necessary for the passage of their ca- 
noe through the great falls. The priest, Bernardo 
Zea, who had accompanied them to the Rio Negro, 
remained behind. His ague had not been removed; 
but its attacks had become an habitual evil, to which 
he now paid little attention. Fevers of a more de- 
structive kind prevailed in the establishment, in- 
somuch that the greater part of the inmates were 
confined to their hammocks. Again embarked on 
the Orinoco the travellers ventured to descend the 
lower half of the rapids of Atures, landing here and 
there to climb the rocks, among which the golden 
manakin (Pipra rupicola), one of the most beau- 
tiful birds of the tropics, builds its nest. At the 
Raudalito of Carucari, they entered some of the 
caverns formed by the piling up of granite blocks, 
and enjoyed the extraordinary spectacle of the river 
dashing in a sheet of foam over their heads. The 
boat was to coast the eastern bank of a narrow 
island, and take them in after a long circuit ; but 
it did not make its appearance, and night approach- 
ing, together with a tremendous thunder-storm, 
M. Bonpland was desirous of swimming across, 
in order to seek assistance at Atures from Father 
Zea. Humboldt and the other person who was 
with them dissuaded him with difficulty from 
so hazardous an enterprise ; and shortly after 
two large crocodiles made their appearance, at- 
tracted by the plaintive cries of the monkeys. At 



CLAY EATEN BY THE OTOMACS, 283 

length the Indians arrived with the vessel, and the 
navigation was continued during part of the night. 
At Carichana the missionary received them with 
kindness. Here the travellers remained some days 
to recruit their exhausted strength, and M. Bonpland 
had the satisfaction of dissecting a manatee. 

From Carichana they went in two days to the 
mission of Uruana, the situation of which is ex- 
tremely picturesque, the village being placed at the 
foot of a lofty granitic mountain, the columnar 
rocks appearing at intervals above the trees. Here 
the river is more than 4263 yards broad, and runs 
in a straight line directly east. The hamlet is in- 
habited by the Otomacs, one of the rudest of the 
American tribes. These Indians swallow quan- 
tities of earth for the purpose of allaying hunger. 
When the waters are low they live on fish and tur- 
tles ; but when the rivers swell, and it becomes dif- 
ficult to procure that food, they eat daily a large 
portion of clay. The travellers found in their huts 
heaps of it in the form of balls, piled up in pyramids 
three or four feet high. This substance is fine and 
unctuous, of a yellowish-gray colour, containing 
silica and alumina, with three or four per cent, of 
lime. Being a restless and turbulent people, with 
unbridled passions and excessively given to in- 
toxication, the little village of Uruana is more 
difficult to govern than any of the other missions. 
By inhaling at the nose the powder obtained from 
the pods of the Acacia niopo they throw them- 
selves into a state of intoxication bordering on mad- 
ness, that lasts several days, during which dreadful 
murders are committed. The most vindictive cover 
the nail of the thumb with the curare poison, the 












284 PROGRESS DOWN THE ORINOCO. 

slightest scratch being thus sufficient to produce 
death. When this crime is perpetrated at night 
they throw the body into the river. " Every time,," 
said the monk, " that I see the women fetch water 
from a part of the shore to which they do not usu- 
ally go for it, I suspect that a murder has been com- 
mitted in my mission." 

On the 7th June the travellers took leave of Father 
Ramon Bueno, whom Humboldt eulogizes as the 
only one of ten missionaries of Guiana whom they 
had seen who appeared to be attentive to any thing 
that regarded the natives. The night was passed at 
the island of Cucurupara, to the east of which is the 
mouth of the Cano de la Tortuga. On its southern 
bank is the almost deserted station of San Miguel 
de la Tortuga, in the neighbourhood of which, ac- 
cording to the Indians, are otters with a very fine 
fur, and lizards with two feet. 

From the island of Cucurupara to Angostura 
the capital of Guiana, a distance of little less than 
328 miles, the travellers were only nine days on 
the water. On the 8th June they landed at a farm 
opposite the mouth of the Apure, where Hum- 
boldt obtained some good observations of latitude 
and longitude ; and on the 9th met a great num- 
ber of boats laden with goods, on their way to that 
river. Here Don Nicolas Soto, who had accom- 
panied them on their voyage to the Rio Negro, took 
leave and returned to his family. As they advanced 
the population became more considerable, consisting 
almost exclusively of whites, negroes, and mulattoes. 
On the 11th they passed the mouth of the Rio Cau- 
ra, near which is a small lake formed in 1790 by 
the sinking of the ground in consequence of an earth- 



ARRIVAL AT ANGOSTURA. 285 

quake. The Boca del Iiifierno and the Raudal de 
Camiseta, a series of whirlpools and rapids caused 
by a chain of small rocks, were the only remarkable 
features that occurred until they reached Angostura. 

On arriving at the capital, they hastened to pre- 
sent themselves to Don Felipe de Ynciarte the go- 
vernor of Guiana, who received them in the most 
obliging manner. A painful circumstance forced 
them to remain a whole month in this place. They 
were both, a few days after their arrival, attacked 
by a disorder, which in M. Bonpland assumed the 
character of a typhoid fever. A mulatto servant, 
who had attended them from Cumana, was simi- 
larly affected. His death was announced on the 
ninth day; but he had only fallen into a state of 
insensibility which lasted several hours, and was 
followed by a salutary crisis. Humboldt escaped 
with a very violent attack, during which he was 
made to take a mixture of honey and the extract 
of Cortex angosturce. He recovered on the follow- 
ing day. His fellow-traveller remained in a very 
alarming state for several weeks, but retained suf- 
ficient strength of mind to prescribe for himself. 
His fever was incessant, and complicated with dy- 
sentery ; but, in his case too, the issue was favour- 
able. At this period no epidemic prevailed in the 
town, and the air was salubrious ; so that the germ 
of the disease had probably been caught in the 
damp forests of the Upper Orinoco. 

Angostura, so named from its being placed on a 
narrow part of the river, stands at the foot of a hill 
of hornblende-slate, destitute of vegetation. The 
streets are regular, and generally parallel to the course 
of the stream. The houses are high, agreeable, and 




286 ANGOSTURA CROCODILES. 

built of stone; although the town is not exempt 
from earthquakes. At the period of this visit the 
population was only 6000. There is little variety in 
the surrounding scenery; but the view of the river is 
singularly majestic. When the waters are high they 
inundate the quays., and it sometimes happens that 
even in the streets imprudent persons fall a prey to 
the crocodiles,, which are very numerous. 

Humboldt relates that, at the time of his stay 
at Angostura, an Indian from the island of Mar- 
garita having gone to anchor his canoe in a cove 
where there were not three feet of water, a very 
fierce crocodile that frequented the spot seized him 
by the leg and carried him off. With astonishing 
courage he searched for a knife in his pocket, but 
not finding it, thrust his fingers into the animal's 
eyes. The monster, however, did not let go his 
hold, but plunged to the bottom of the river, and, 
after drowning his victim, came to the surface and 
dragged the body to an island. 

The number of individuals who perish annually 
in this manner is very great, especially in villages 
where the neighbouring grounds are inundated. 
The same crocodiles remain long in the same places, 
and become more daring from year to year, espe- 
cially, as the Indians assert, if they have once tasted 
human flesh. They are not easily killed, as their skin 
is impenetrable, — the throat and the space beneath 
the shoulder being the only parts where a ball or 
spear can enter. The natives catch them with large 
iron hooks baited with meat, and attached to a chain 
fastened to a tree. After the animal has struggled 
for a considerable time, they attack it with lances. 

Affecting examples are related of the intrepidity 



CROCODILES. 287 

of African slaves in attempting to rescue their mas- 
ters from the jaws of these voracious reptiles. Not 
many years ago, in the Llanos of Calabozo, a negro, 
attracted by the cries of his owner, armed himself 
with a long knife, and, plunging into the river, 
forced the animal, by scooping out its eyes, to leave 
its prey and take to flight. The natives being daily 
exposed to similar dangers think little of them. 
They observe the manners of the crocodile as the 
torero studies those of the bull ; and quietly calcu- 
late the motions of the enemy, its means of attack, 
and the degree of its audacity. 

The general nature of the vast regions bordering 
on the Orinoco may be sufficiently learned from the 
above condensed narrative ; and we think it unne- 
cessary to follow our learned author through his de- 
scription of that portion of the river which extends 
from Angostura to its mouths, especially as it is not 
founded on personal observation. 



288 JOURNEY FROM ANGOSTURA 






CHAPTER XX. 

Journey across the Llanos to New Barcelona. 

Departure from Angostura- — Village of Cari — Natives — New Bar- 
celona — Hot Springs — Crocodiles — Passage to Cumana. 

It was night when our travellers for the last time 
crossed the bed of the Orinoco. They intended to 
rest near the little fort of San Rafael, and in the 
morning begin their journey over the Llanos of 
Venezuela, with the view of proceeding to Cumana 
or New Barcelona, whence they might sail to the 
island of Cuba and thence again to Mexico. There 
they purposed to remain a year, and to take a pass- 
age in the galleon from Acapuico to Manilla. 

The botanical and geological collections which 
they had brought from Esmeralda and the Rio Ne- 
gro had greatly increased their baggage ; and as it 
would have been hazardous to lose sight of such 
stores, they journeyed but slowly over the deserts, 
which they crossed in thirteen days. This eastern 
part of the Llanos, between Angostura and Barce- 
lona, is similar to that already described on the 
passage from the valley of Aragua to San Fernando 
de Apure ; but the breeze is felt with greater force, 
although at this period it had ceased. They spent 
the first night at the house of a Frenchman, a na- 
tive of Lyons, who received them with the kindest 
hospitality. He was employed in joining wood by 

7 



TO BARCELONA CARIBS. 289 

means of a kind of glue called guayca, which re- 
sembles the best made from animal substances, and 
is found between the bark and alburnum of the 
Combretum guayca, a kind of creeping plant. 

On the third day they arrived at the missions of 
Cari. Some showers had recently revived the vege- 
tation. A thick turf was formed of small grasses and 
herbaceous sensitive plants, while a few fan-palms, 
rhopalas, and malphighias, rose at great distances 
from each other. The humid spots were distin- 
guishable by groups of mauritias, which were loaded 
with enormous clusters of red fruit. The plain 
undulated from the effect of mirage, the heat was 
excessive, and the travellers found temporary relief 
under the shade of the trees, which had, however, 
attracted numerous birds and insects. 

On the 13th July they arrived at the village of 
Cari, where, as usual, they lodged with the clergy- 
man, who could scarcely comprehend how natives of 
the north of Europe should have arrived at his dwell- 
ing from the frontiers of Brazil. They found more 
than 500 Caribs in the hamlet, and saw many more 
at the surrounding missions. They were of large 
stature, from five feet nine inches to six feet two. 
The men had the lower part of the body wrapped 
in a piece of dark-blue cloth, while the women had 
merely a narrow band. This race differs from the 
other Indians, not only in being taller, but also in 
the greater regularity of their features, in having 
the nose less flattened, and the cheekbones less pro- 
minent. The hair of the head is partially shaven, 
only a circular tuft being left on the top, — a custom 
that might be supposed to have been borrowed from 
the monks, but which is equally prevalent among 



290 CARIB MISSIONS. 

those who have preserved their independence. Both 
males and females are careful to ornament their per- 
sons with paint. The Caribs, once so powerful,, now 
inhabit but a small part of the country which they 
occupied at the time when America was discovered. 
They have been exterminated in the West India 
Islands and the coasts of Darien, but in the pro- 
vinces of New Barcelona and Spanish Guiana have 
formed populous villages, under the government of 
the missions. Humboldt estimates the number in- 
habiting the Llanos of Piritoo and the banks of the 
Caroni and Cuyuni at more than 35,000, and the 
total amount of the pure race at 40,000. 

The missionary led the travellers into several 
huts, where they found the greatest order and clean- 
liness, but were shocked by the torments that the 
women inflicted on their infants, for the purpose of 
raising the flesh in alternate bands from the ankle 
to the top of the thigh ; a practice which the monks 
had in vain attempted to abolish. This effect was 
produced by narrow ligatures, which seemed to ob- 
struct the circulation of the blood, although it did not 
weaken the action of the muscles. Theforehead, how- 
ever, was not flattened, but left in its natural form. 

On leaving the mission the philosophers had 
some difficulty in settling with their Indian mule- 
teers, who had discovered among the baggage the 
skeletons brought from the cavern of Ataruipe, and 
were persuaded that the animals which carried such 
a load would perish on the journey. The Rio Cari 
was crossed in a boat, and the Rio de Agua Clara 
by fording. The same objects every where recurred ; 
huts constructed of reeds and roofed with skins; 
mounted men guarding the herds; cattle, horses, 



ROBBERS. 291 

and mules,, running half wild. No sheep or goats 
were seen, these animals being unable to escape from 
the jaguars. 

On the 15th they arrived at the Villa del Pao, 
where they found some fruit-trees as well as cocoa- 
palms, which properly belong to the coast. As they 
advanced the sky became clearer, the soil more 
dusty, and the atmosphere more fiery. The intense 
heat, however, was not entirely owing to the tem- 
perature of the air, but arose partly from the fine 
sand mingled with it. On the night of the 16th they 
rested at the Indian village of Santa Cruz de Ca- 
chipo. The warmth had increased so much that they 
would have preferred travelling by night ; but the 
country was infested by robbers, who murdered the 
whites that fell into their hands. These were male- 
factors who had escaped from the prisons on the 
coast and from the missions, and lived in the Llanos 
in a manner similar to that of the Bedouin Arabs. 
Those vast plains, Humboldt thinks, can hardly 
ever be subjected to cultivation, although he is per- 
suaded that in the lapse of ages, if placed under a 
government favourable to industry, they will lose 
much of the wild aspect which they have hitherto 
retained. 

After travelling three days they began to perceive 
the chain of the mountains of Cumana, which sepa- 
rates the Llanos from the coast of the Caribbean Sea. 
It appeared at first like a fog-bank, which by degrees 
condensed, assumed a bluish tint, and became bounded 
by sinuous outlines. Although the Llanos of Ve- 
nezuela are bordered on the south by granitic moun- 
tains, exhibiting in their broken summits traces of 
violent convulsions, no blocks were found scattered 



292 



ARRIVAL AT NEW BARCELONA. 



upon them. The same remark is to be made in re- 
gard to the other great plains of South America. 
These circumstances,, as Humboldt remarks., seem 
to prove that the granitic masses scattered over the 
sandy plains of the Baltic are a local phenomenon, 
and must have originated in some great convulsion 
which took place in the northern regions of Europe. 

On the 23d July they arrived at the town of 
New Barcelona, less fatigued by the heat, to which 
they had been so long accustomed, than harassed by 
the sand-wind, that causes painful chaps in the 
skin. They were kindly received by a wealthy 
merchant of French extraction, Don Pedro Lavie. 
This town was founded in 1637, and in 1800 con- 
tained more than 1 6,000 inhabitants. The climate 
is not so hot as that of Cumana, but very damp, 
and in the rainy season rather unhealthy. M. Bon- 
pland had by this time regained his strength and 
activity, but his companion suffered more at Bar- 
celona than he had done at Angostura. One of 
those extraordinary tropical rains, during which 
drops of enormous size fall at sunset, had produced 
uneasy sensations that seemed to threaten an at- 
tack of typhus, a disease then prevalent on the 
coast. They remained nearly a month at Barce- 
lona, where they found their friend Juan Gonzales, 
who, having resolved to go to Europe, meant to ac- 
company them as far as Cuba. 

At the distance of seven miles to the south-east 
of New Barcelona rises a chain of lofty mountains 
connected with the Cerro del Bergantin, which is 
seen from Cumana. When Humboldt's health was 
sufficiently restored, the travellers made an excur- 
sion in that direction, for the purpose of examining 



HOT-SPRINGS — CROCODILES. 293 

the hot-springs in the neighbourhood. These are 
impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen, and issue 
from a quartzose sandstone, lying on a compact lime- 
stone resembling that of Jura. The temperature of 
the water w T as 109'8°. Their host had lent them 
one of his finest saddle-horses, warning them at the 
same time not to ford the little river of Narigual, 
which is infested with crocodiles. They passed over 
by a kind of bridge formed of the trunks of trees, 
and made their animals swim, holding them by the 
bridles. Humboldt's suddenly disappeared, and the 
guides conjectured that it had been seized by the 
caymans. 

The crocodiles of the Rio Neveri are numerous, 
but less ferocious than those of the Orinoco. The 
people of New Barcelona convey wood to market, 
by floating the logs on the river, while the proprie- 
tors swim here and there to set them loose when 
they are stopped by the banks. This could not be 
done in most of the South American rivers infested 
by those animals. There is no Indian suburb as 
at Cumana, and the few natives seen in the town, 
are from the neighbouring missions, or inhabitants 
of huts scattered in the plain. They are of a mixed 
race, indolent, and addicted to drinking. 

The packet-boats from Corunna to Havannah 
and Mexico had been due three months, so that 
they were supposed to have been taken by the Eng- 
lish cruisers ; when our travellers, anxious to reach 
Cumana, in order to avail themselves of the first op- 
portunity for Vera Cruz, hired an open vessel. It 
was laden with cacao, and carried on a contraband 
trade with the island of Trinidad ; for which reason 
the proprietor thought he had nothing to fear from 



294 ARRIVAL AT CUMANA. 

the British; but they had scarcely reached the nar- 
row channel between the continent and the islands 
of Borracha and the Chimanas, when they met an 
armed boat which, hailing them at a great distance, 
fired some musket-shot at them. It belonged to a 
privateer of Halifax, and the travellers were forth- 
with carried on board ; but, while Humboldt was 
negotiating in the cabin, a noise was heard upon 
deck, and something was whispered to the master, 
who instantly left him in consternation. An Eng- 
lish sloop of war, the Hawk, had come up, and 
made signals to the latter to bring to; which he not 
having promptly obeyed, a gun was fired, and a mid- 
shipman sent to demand the reason. Humboldt 
accompanied this officer to the sloop, where Captain 
Garnier received him with the greatest kindness. 
Next day they continued their voyage, and at niire 
in the morning reached the Gulf of Cariaco. The 
castle of San Antonio, the forest of cactuses, the scat- 
tered huts of the Guayquerias, and all the features 
of a landscape well known to them, rose upon the 
view ; and as they landed at Cumana they were 
greeted by their numerous friends, who were over- 
joyed to find untrue a report of their death on the 
Orinoco, which had been current for several months. 
The port was every day more strictly blockaded, 
and the vain expectation of Spanish packets retained 
them two months and a half longer ; during which 
time they occupied themselves in completing their 
investigation of the plants of the country ; in exa- 
mining the geology of the eastern part of the penin- 
sula of Araya ; and in making astronomical obser- 
vations, together with experiments on refraction, 
evaporation, and atmospheric electricity. They also 



NATIVE ALUM. 295 

sent off some of their more valuable collections to 
France. 

Having been informed that the Indians brought 
to the town considerable quantities of native alum 
found in the mountains, they made an excursion for 
the purpose of ascertaining its position. Disembark- 
ing near Cape Caney they inspected the old salt- 
pit, now converted into a lake by an irruption of the 
sea j the ruins of the castle of Araya; and the lime- 
stone-mountain of Barigon, which contained fossil 
shells in perfect preservation. When they visited 
that peninsula the preceding year, there was a 
dreadful scarcity of water. But during their absence 
on the Orinoco it had rained abundantly on various 
parts along the coast ; and the remembrance of these 
showers occupied the imagination of the natives as 
a fall of meteoric stones would engage that of the 
naturalists of Europe. 

Their Indian guide was ignorant of the situation 
of the alum, and they wandered for eight or nine 
hours among the rocks, which consisted of mica-slate 
passing into clay-slate, traversed by veins of quartz, 
and containing small beds of graphite. At length, de- 
scending toward the northern coast of the peninsula, 
they found the substance for which they were search- 
ing, in a ravine of very difficult access. Here the mica- 
slate suddenly changed into carburetted and shining 
clay-slate, and the springs were impregnated with 
yellow oxide of iron. The sides of the neighbouring 
cliffs were covered with capillary crystals of sulphate 
of alumina, and real beds, two inches thick, of native 
alum, extended in the clay-slate as far as the eye 
could reach. The formation appeared to be primi- 
tive, as it contained cyanite, rutile, and garnets. 



296 EUROPEAN NATIONS 

Returning to Cumana, they made preparations 
for their departure, and availing themselves of an 
American vessel, laden at New Barcelona for Cuba, 
they set out on the 16th November, and crossed for 
the third time the Gulf of Cariaco. The night was 
cool and delicious, and it was not without emotion 
that they saw for the last time the disk of the moon 
illuminating the summits of the cocoa-trees along 
the banks of the Manzanares. The breeze was 
strong, and in less than six hours they anchored 
near the Morro of New Barcelona. 

The continental part of the New World is divid- 
ed between three nations of European origin, of 
which one, the most powerful, is of Germanic race, 
and the two others belong to Latin Europe. The 
latter are more numerous than the former ; the in- 
habitants of Spanish and Portuguese America con- 
stituting a population double that of the regions 
possessed by the English. The French, Dutch, and 
Danish possessions of the New Continent are of 
small extent, and the Russian colonies are as yet of 
little importance. The free Africans of Hayti are 
the only other people possessed of territory, except- 
ing the native Indians. The British and Portu- 
guese colonists have peopled only the coasts opposite 
to Europe ; but the Spaniards have passed over the 
Andes, and made settlements in the most western 
provinces, where alone they discovered traces of an- 
cient civilisation. In the eastern districts, the in- 
habitants who fell into the hands of the two former 
nations were wandering tribes or hunters, while in 
the remoter parts the Spaniards found agricultural 
states and nourishing empires ; and these circum- 
stances have greatly influenced the present condi- 






IN AMERICA. 297 

tion of these countries. Among other instances 
may be mentioned the almost total exclusion of Af- 
rican slaves from the latter colonies, and the com- 
fortable condition of the natives of American race, 
who live by agriculture, and are governed by Eu- 
ropean laws. 

But with respect to the political constitution and 
relations of the provinces visited by the travellers, 
it is not expedient here to enter into the details 
which they have given, more especially as those 
colonies have lately undergone revolutions that 
have converted them into independent states, the 
history of which would afford materials for many 
volumes. The very interesting sketch of the phy- 
sical constitution of South America presented by 
Humboldt must also be passed over, because, in the 
condensed form to which it would necessarily be re- 
duced, it could not afford an adequate idea of the 
subject. We must therefore, with our travellers, 
take leave of Terra Firma, and accompany them on 
their passage to Havannah. 



298 



VOYAGE TO CUBA. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



Passage to Havannah, and Residence in Cuba. 

Passage from New Barcelona to Havannah — Description of the 
latter — Extent of Cuba — Geological Constitution — Vegetation — 
Climate — Population — Agriculture — Exports — Preparations for 
joining Captain Baudin's Expedition — Journey to Batabano, and 
Voyage to Trinidad de Cuba. 

Humboldt and his companion sailed from the Road 
of New Barcelona on the 24th November at nine in 
the evening, and next day at noon reached the island 
of Tortuga, remarkable for its lowness and want of 
vegetation. On the 26th there was a dead calm, 
and about nine in the morning a fine halo formed 
round the sun, while the temperature of the air fell 
three degrees. The circle of this meteor, which was 
one degree in breadth, displayed the most beautiful 
colours of the rainbow, while its interior and the 
whole vault of the sky was azure without the least 
haze. The sea was covered with a bluish scum, 
which under the microscope appeared to be formed 
of filaments, that seemed to be fragments of fuci. 
On the 27th they passed near the island of Orchila, 
composed of gneiss and covered with plants, and 
toward sunset discovered the summits of the Roca 
de Afuera, over which the clouds were accumulated. 
Indications of stormy weather increased, the waves 
rose, and waterspouts threatened. On the night of 
the 2d December a curious optical phenomenon pre- 



HAVANNAH. 299 

sen ted itself. The full moon was very high. On its 
side, forty-five minutes before its passage over the 
meridian, a great arc suddenly appeared, having the 
prismatic colours, but of a gloomy aspect. It seemed 
higher than the moon, had a breadth of nearly two 
degrees, and remained stationary for several mi- 
nutes ; after which it gradually descended, and sank 
below the horizon. The sailors were filled with as- 
tonishment at this moving arch, which they sup- 
posed to announce wind. Next night M. Bonpland 
and several passengers saw, at the distance of a 
quarter of a mile, a small flame, which ran on the 
surface of the sea towards the south-west, and illu- 
minated the atmosphere. On the 4th and 6th they 
encountered rough weather, with heavy rain ac- 
companied by thunder, and were in considerable 
danger on the bank of Vibora. At length, on the 
19th, they anchored in the port of Havannah, after 
a boisterous passage of twenty-five days. 

Cuba is the largest of the West India Islands, and 
on account of its great fertility, its naval establish- 
ments, the nature of its population, — of which three- 
fifths are composed of free men, — and its geographical 
position, is of great political importance. Of all the 
Spanish colonies it is that which has most prospered; 
insomuch, that not only has its revenue sufficed for 
its own wants, but during the struggle between the 
mother-country and her continental provinces, it 
furnished considerable sums to the former. 

The appearance which Havannah presents at the 
entrance of the port is exceedingly beautiful and 
picturesque. The opening is only about 426 yards 
wide, defended by fortifications; after which a 
basin, upwards of two miles in its greatest dia- 
meter, and communicating with three creeks, ex- 



300 HAVANNAH. 

pands to the view. The city is built on a promon- 
tory, bounded on the north by the fort of La Punta, 
and on the south by the arsenals. On the western 
side it is protected by two castles, placed at the 
distance of 1407 and 2643 yards, the intermediate 
space being occupied by the suburbs. The public 
edifices are less remarkable for their beauty than 
for the solidity of their construction, and the streets 
are in general narrow and unpaved, in consequence 
of which they are extremely dirty and disagreeable. 
But there are two fine public walks to w T hich the 
inhabitants resort. 

Although the town of Havannah, properly so 
called, is only 1918 yards long and 1066 broad, it 
contains more than 44,000 inhabitants. The two 
great suburbs of Jesu-Maria and the Salud accom- 
modate nearly an equal population. In 1810 the 
amount was as follows : — 

Whites, 41,227 

Free Pardos, or copper-coloured men, ... 9,743 \ 9 ~ ^<g 

Free Blacks, 16,606 j" ? 

Pardos Slaves, 2,2971 oq toq 

Black Slaves, 26,431 J ■•- b >'-° 

96,304 

There are two hospitals in the town, the number 
of sick admitted into which is considerable. Owing 
to the heat of the climate, the filth of the town, and 
the influence of the shore, there is usually a great accu- 
mulation of disease, and the yellow fever or black vo- 
miting is prevalent. The markets are well supplied. 

A peculiar character is given to the landscape in 
the vicinity of Havannah by the palma real (Oreo- 
doza regia), the trunk of which, enlarged a little 
towards the middle, attains a height varying from 60 
to 85 feet, and is crowned by pinnated leaves rising 



EXTENT AND GEOLOGY OF CUBA. 301 

perpendicularly,, and curved at the point. Nume- 
rous country-houses of light and elegant construc- 
tion surround the bay, to which the proprietors re- 
treat when the yellow fever rages in the town. 

The island of Cuba is nearly as large as Portu- 
gal ; its greatest length being 783^ miles, and its 
mean breadth 5 If miles. More than four-fifths of 
its extent is composed of low lands ; but it is tra- 
versed in various directions by ranges of mountains, 
the highest of which are said to attain an altitude 
of 7674 feet. The western part consists of gra- 
nite, gneiss, and primitive slates ; which, as well as 
the central district, contains tw r o formations of com- 
pact limestone, one of argillaceous sandstone, and 
another of gypsum. The first of these presents large 
caves near Matanzas and Jaruco, and is filled with 
numerous species of fossils. The secondary forma- 
tions to the east of the Havannah are pierced by 
syenitic and euphotide rocks, accompanied with ser- 
pentine. No volcanic eruptions, properly so called, 
have hitherto been discovered. 

Owing to the cavernous structure of the limestone 
deposites, the great inclination of their strata, the small 
breadth of the island, and the frequency and naked- 
ness of the plains, there are very few rivers of any 
magnitude, and a large portion of the territory is sub- 
ject to severe droughts. Yet the undulating surface 
of the country, the continually renewed verdure, 
and the distribution of vegetable forms, give rise to 
the most varied and beautiful landscapes. The hills 
and savannahs are decorated by palms of several 
species, trees of other families, and shrubs constant- 
ly covered with flowers. Wild orange-trees ten or 
fifteen feet in height, and bearing a small fruit, are 
common, and probably existed before the introduc- 



302 VEGETATION,, CLIMATE, POPULATION, 

tion of the cultivated variety by Europeans. A 
species of pine (Pinus occidentalis) occurs here and 
in St Domingo, but has not been seen in any of the 
other West India Islands. 

The climate of Havannah, although tropical, is 
marked by an unequal distribution of heat at dif- 
ferent periods of the year, indicating a transition 
to the climates of the temperate zone. The mean 
temperature is 78*3°, but in the interior only 73*4°. 
The hottest months, July and August, do not give 
a greater average than 82-4°, and the coldest, De- 
cember and January, present the mean of 69*8°. In 
summer the thermometer does not rise above 82° 
or 86°, and its depression in winter so low as 50° or 
53-5° is rare. When the north wind blows several 
weeks, ice is sometimes formed at night at a little 
distance from the coast, at an inconsiderable eleva- 
tion above the sea. Yet the great lowerings of tem- 
perature which occasionally take place are of so short 
duration, that the palm-trees, bananas, or the sugar- 
cane, do not suffer from them. Snow never falls, 
and hail so rarely that it is only observed during 
thunder-storms, and with blasts from the S.S.W. 
once in fifteen or twenty years. The changes how- 
ever are very rapid, and the inhabitants complain 
of cold when the thermometer falls quickly to 70°. 
Hurricanes are of much less frequent occurrence in 
Cuba than in the other West India Islands. 

In 1817 the population was estimated at 630,980. 
There were 290,021 whites, 115,691 free copper- 
coloured men, and 225,268 slaves. The original 
inhabitants have entirely disappeared, as in all the 
other West India Islands. Intellectual cultivation 
is almost entirely restricted to the whites ; and al- 
though in Havannah the first society is not per- 



AND AGRICULTURE OF CUBA. 303 

ceptibly inferior to that of the richest commercial 
cities in Europe, a rudeness of manners prevails in 
the small towns and plantations. 

The common cereal grasses are cultivated in Cu- 
ba, together with the tropical productions peculiar 
to these countries ; hut the principal exports consist 
of tobacco, coffee, sugar, and wax. The sugar-cane 
is planted in the rainy season, from July to Octo- 
ber, and cut from February to May. The rapid 
diminution of wood in the island has caused the 
want of fuel to be felt in the manufacture of sugar, 
and Humboldt, during his stay, attempted several 
new constructions, with the view of diminishing the 
expenditure of it.* 

The tobacco of Cuba is celebrated in every part of 
Europe. The districts which produce the most aro- 
matic kind are situated to the west of the Havannah, 
in the Vuelta de Abago; but that grown to the east 
of the capital on the banks of the Mayari, in the 
province of Santiago, at Himias, and in other places, 
is also of excellent quality. In 1827 the produce 
was about 113,214 cwts., of which 17,888 were ex- 
ported. The value of this commodity shipped in 
1828 was £105,991, 13s. 4d., and in 1829, £142,910. 
Cotton and indigo, although cultivated, are not to 
any extent made articles of commerce. 

Towards the end of April the travellers, having 
finished the observations which they had proposed 



* By the Custom-house returns, 156,158,924 lbs. of sugar were 
exDorted from Cuba in 1827 ; and if the quantity smuggled be 
estimated at one-fourth more, the total amount would be nearly 
200,000,000 lbs. In the same year the exportation of coffee 
amounted to upwards of 50,000,000 lbs., but it has since fallen off 
considerably. — See Maccullocti s Diet, of Commerce , art. Havan- 
nah. 






304 PREPARATIONS FOR LEAVING CUBA. 

to make, were on the point of sailing to Vera 
Cruz ; but intelligence communicated by means 
of the public papers respecting Captain Baudin's 
expedition, led them to relinquish the project of 
crossing Mexico in order to proceed to the Philip- 
pine Islands. It had been announced that two 
French vessels, the Geographe and the Naturaliste, 
had sailed for Cape Horn, and that they were to go 
along the coast of Chili and Peru, and from thence 
to New Holland. Humboldt had promised to join 
them wherever he could reach the ships, and M. 
Bonpland resolved to divide their plants into three 
portions, one of which was sent to Germany by way 
of England, another to France by Cadiz, and the 
third left in Cuba. Their friend Fray Juan Gon- 
zales, an estimable young man, who had followed 
them to the Havannah on his way to Spain, car- 
ried part of their collections with him, including the 
insects found on the Orinoco and Rio Negro ; but 
the vessel in which he embarked foundered in a 
storm on the coast of Africa. General Don Gonzalo 
O'Farrill being then in Prussia as minister of the 
Spanish court, Humboldt was enabled, through the 
agency of Don Ygnacio, the general's brother, to 
procure a supply of money ; and having made all 
the necessary preparations for the new enterprise, 
freighted a Catalonian sloop for Porto Bello, or Car- 
thagena, according as the weather should permit. 

On the 6th March the travellers, finding that 
the vessel was ready to receive them, set out for 
Batabano, where they arrived on the 8th. This 
is a poor village surrounded by marshes, covered 
with rushes and plants of the Iris family, among 
which appear here and there a few stunted palms. 

2 



TURTLE-FISHING. 305 

The marshes are infested by two species of crocodile, 
one of which has an elongated snout, and is very fe- 
rocious. The back is dark- green, the belly white, 
and the flanks are covered with yellow spots. 

On the 9th of March our travellers again set sail 
in a small sloop, and proceeded through the gulf of 
Batabano, which is bounded by a low and swampy 
coast. Humboldt employed himself in examining 
the influence which the bottom of the sea produces 
on the temperature of its surface, and in determining 
the position of some remarkable islands. The water 
of the gulf was so shallow, that the sloop often 
struck ; but the ground being soft and the weather 
calm, no damage was sustained. At sunset they 
anchored near the pass of Don Cristoval, which was 
entirely deserted, although in the time of Columbus 
it was possessed by fishermen. The inhabitants of 
Cuba then employed a singular method for procur- 
ing turtles ; they fastened a long cord to the tail of 
a species of echineis or sticking-fish, which has a 
flat disk with a sucking apparatus on its head. By 
means of this it stuck to the turtle, and was pulled 
ashore carrying the latter with it. The same ar- 
tifice is resorted to by the natives of certain parts of 
the African coast. 

They were three days on their passage through 
the Archipelago of the Jardines and Jardinillos, 
small islands and shoals partly covered with vegeta- 
tion ; remaining at anchor during the night, and in 
the day visiting those which were of most easy access. 
The rocks w^ere found to be fragmentary, consisting 
of pieces of coral, cemented by carbonate of lime, 
and interspersed with quartzy sand. On the Cayo 
Bonito, where they first landed, they observed a 



306 CAYO FLAMENCO. 

layer of sand and broken shells five or six inches 
thicks covering a formation of madrepore. It was 
shaded by a forest of rhizophorse, intermixed with 
euphorbise^ grasses,, and other plants, together with 
the magnificent Tournefortia gnaphalioides, with 
silvery leaves and odoriferous flowers. The sailors 
had been searching for langoustes; but not finding 
any, avenged themselves on the young pelicans 
perched on the trees. The old birds hovered around, 
uttering hoarse and plaintive cries, and the young 
defended themselves with vigour, although in vain ; 
for the sailors, armed with sticks and cutlasses, 
made cruel havoc among them. " On our arrival/' 
says Humboldt, ce a profound calm prevailed on 
this little spot of earth; but now every thing seem- 
ed to say, — Man has passed here." 

On the morning of the 11th they visited the Cayo 
Flamenco, the centre of which is depressed, and 
only 15 inches above the surface of the sea. The 
water was brackish, while in other cayos it is quite 
fresh ; a circumstance difficult to be accounted for 
in small islands scarcely elevated above the ocean, 
unless the springs be supposed to come from the 
neighbouring coast by means of hydrostatic pressure. 
Humboldt was informed by Don Francisco le Maur, 
that in the bay of Xagua, to the east of the Jardin- 
illos, fresh water gushes up in several places from 
the bottom with such force as to prove dangerous for 
small canoes. Vessels sometimes take in supplies 
from them ; and the lamantins, or fresh-water ce- 
tacea, abound in the neighbourhood. 

To the east of Cape Flamenco they passed close 
to the Piedras de Diego Perez, and in the even- 
ing landed at Cayo de Piedras, two rocks forming 



RIO GUAURABO. 307 

the eastern extremity of the Jardinillos, on which 
many vessels are lost. They are nearly destitute 
of shrubs, the shipwrecked crews having cut them 
down to make signals. Next day, turning round 
the passage between the northern cape of the Cayo 
and the island of Cuba, they entered a sea free 
from breakers, and of a dark-blue colour ; the in- 
crease of temperature in which indicated a great 
augmentation of depth. The thermometer was at 
79'2°; w r hereas in the shoal- water of the Jardinillos 
it had been seen as low as 72*7°> the air being from 
77° to 80*6° during the day. Passing in succession 
the marshy coast of Camareos, the entrance of the 
Bahia de Xagua, and the mouth of the Rio San Juan, 
along a naked and desert coast, they entered on the 
14th the Rio Guaurabo to land their pilot. Dis- 
embarking in the evening, they made preparations 
for observing the passage of certain stars over the 
meridian, but were interrupted by some merchants 
that had dined on board a foreign ship newly ar- 
rived, and who invited the strangers to accompany 
them to the town ; which they did, mounted two 
and two on the same horse. The road to Trinidad 
is nearly five miles in length, over a level plain 
covered with a beautiful vegetation, to which the 
Miraguama palm, a species of corypha, gave a pe- 
culiar character. The houses are situated on a 
steep declivity, about 746 feet above the level of 
the sea, and command a magnificent view of the 
ocean, the two ports, a forest of palms, and the moun- 
tains of San Juan. The travellers were received 
with the kindest hospitality by the administrator of 
the Real Hacienda, M. Munoz. The Teniente Go- 
vernador, who was nephew to the celebrated astro- 

6 



308 RECEPTION AT TRINIDAD OF CUBA. 

nomer Don Antonio Ulloa, gave them a grand en- 
tertainment, at which they met with some French 
emigrants of Saint Domingo. The evening was 
passed very agreeably in the house of one of the 
richest inhabitants, Don Antonio Padron, where they 
found assembled all the select company of the place. 
Their departure was very unlike their entrance ; for 
the municipality caused them to be conducted to the 
mouth of the Rio Guaurabo in a splendid carriage, 
and an ecclesiastic dressed in velvet celebrated in a 
sonnet their voyage up the Orinoco. 

The population of Trinidad, with the surrounding 
farms, was stated to be 19,000. It has two ports at 
the distance of about four miles, Puerto Casilda 
and Puerto Guaurabo. On their return to the latter 
of these the travellers were much struck by the 
prodigious number of phosphorescent insects which 
illuminated the grass and foliage. These insects 
(Elater noctilucus) are occasionally used for a lamp, 
being placed in a calabash perforated with holes ; 
and a young woman at Trinidad informed them 
that, during a long passage from the mainland, she 
always had recourse to this light when she gave her 
child the breast at night, the captain not allowing 
any other on board for fear of pirates. 



DEPARTURE FROM CUBA. 309 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Voyage from Cuba to Carthagena. 

Passage from Trinidad of Cuba to Carthagena — Description of the 
latter — Village of Turbaco — Air- volcanoes — Preparations for 
ascending the Rio Magdalena. 

Leaving the island of Cuba the travellers proceed- 
ed in a S.S.E. direction, and on the morning of the 
17th approached the group of the Little Caymans, 
in the neighbourhood of which they saw numerous 
turtles of extraordinary size, accompanied by mul- 
titudes of sharks. Passing a second time over the 
great bank of Vibora, they remarked that the colour 
of the troubled waters upon it was of a dirty-gray, 
and made observations on the changes of temperature 
at the surface produced by the varying depth of the 
sea. On quitting this shoal they sailed between 
the Baxo Nueva and the lighthouse of Camboy. 
The weather was remarkably fine, and the surface 
of the bay was of an indigo-blue or violet tint, on 
account of the medusae which covered it. Haloes 
of small dimensions appeared round the moon. 
The disappearance of one of them was follow- 
ed by the formation of a great black cloud, which 
emitted some drops of rain ; but the sky soon re- 
sumed its serenity, and a long series of falling-stars 
and fire-balls were seen moving in a direction con- 
trary to the wind in the lower regions of the atmo- 



310 LANDING AT THE RIO SINU. 

sphere,, which blew from the north. During the 
whole of the 23d March not a single cloud was 
seen in the firmament, although the air and the 
horizon were tinged with a fine red colour; but 
towards evening large bluish clouds formed, and 
when they disappeared, converging bands of fleecy 
vapours were seen at an immense height. On the 
24th they entered the kind of gulf bounded by 
the shores of Santa Martha and Costa Rica, which 
is frequently agitated by heavy gales. As they ad- 
vanced toward the coast of Darien the north-east 
wind increased to a violent degree, and the waves 
became very rough at night. At sunrise they per- 
ceived part of the archipelago of St Bernard, and 
passing the southern extremity of the Placa de San 
Bernardo, saw in the distance the mountains of 
Tigua. The stormy weather and contrary winds 
induced the master of the vessel to seek shelter in 
the Rio Sinu, after a passage of sixteen days. 

Landing again on the continent of South Ame- 
rica, they betook themselves to the village of Za- 
pote, where they found a great number of sailors, 
all men of colour, who had descended the Rio Sinu 
in their barks, carrying maize, bananas, poultry, 
and other articles, to the port of Carthagena. The 
boats are flat-bottomed, and the wind having blown 
violently on the coast for ten days, they were unable 
to proceed on their voyage. These people fatigued 
the travellers with idle questions about their books 
and instruments, and tried to frighten them with 
stories of boas, vipers, and jaguars. Leaving the 
shores, which are covered with Rhizophorce, they en- 
tered a forest remarkable for the great variety of 
palm-trees which it presented. One of them, the 



PALM- WINE. 311 

Mleis melanococca, is only six feet four inches high, 
but its spathse contain more than 200,000 flowers, 
a single specimen furnishing 600,000 at the same 
time. The kernels of the fruit are peeled in water, 
and the layer of oil that rises from them, after being 
purified by boiling, yields the manteca de corozo, 
which is used for lighting churches and houses. 

After an hour's walk they found several inhabi- 
tants collecting palm-wine. The tree which affords 
this liquid is the Palma dolce or Cocos butyracea. 
The trunk, which diminishes but little towards the 
summit, is first cut down, when an excavation 
eighteen inches long, eight broad, and six in depth, 
is made below the place at which the leaves and 
spathse come off. After three days the cavity is 
found filled with a yellowish- white juice, having 
a sweet and vinous flavour, which continues to flow 
eighteen or twenty days. The last that comes is 
less sweet, but having a greater quantity of alcohol, 
it is more highly esteemed. On their way back to 
the shore they met with Zambos carrying on their 
shoulders cylinders of palmetto three feet in length, 
of which an excellent food is prepared. Night sur- 
prised them ; and, having broken an oar in return- 
ing on board, they found some difficulty in reaching 
the vessel. 

The Rio Sinu is of the highest importance for 
provisioning Carthagena. The gold- washings which 
were formerly of great value, especially between its 
source and the village of San Geronimo, have al- 
most entirely ceased, although the province of An- 
tioquia still furnishes, in its auriferous veins, a vast 
field for mining speculations. It would, however, 
be of more importance to direct attention to the cuL 



312 BOISTEROUS WEATHER. 

tivation of colonial produce in these districts, especi- 
ally that of cacao, which is of superior quality. The 
real febrifuge Cinchona also grows at the source of 
the Rio Sinu, as well as in the mountains of Abibe 
and Maria ; and the proximity of the port of Car- 
thagena would enhance its value in the trade with 
Europe. 

On the 27th March the sloop weighed anchor at 
sunrise. The sea was less agitated, although the wind 
blew as before. To the north was seen a succession 
of small conical mountains, rising in the midst of 
savannahs, where the balsam of Tolu, formerly so 
celebrated as a medicament, is still gathered. On 
leaving the gulf of Morosquillo they found the waves 
swelling so high, that the captain was glad to seek for 
shelter, and lay to on the north of the village of 
Rincon ; but discovering that they were upon a co- 
ral rock, they preferred the open water, and finally 
anchored near the isle of Arenas, on the night of the 
28th. Next day the gale blew with great violence ; 
but they again proceeded, hoping to be able to reach 
the Boca Chica. The sea was so rough as to break 
over the deck, and while they were running short 
tacks, a false manoeuvre in setting the sails exposed 
them for some minutes to imminent danger. It 
was Palm Sunday; and a Zambo, who had fol- 
lowed them to the Orinoco and remained in their 
service until they returned to France, did not fail 
to remind them, that on the same day the preceding 
year they had undergone a similar danger near the 
mission of Uruana. After this they took refuge in 
a creek of the isle of Baru. 

As there was to be an eclipse of the moon that 
night, and next day an occultation of a Virginis, 



DANGER FROM MAROON NEGROES. 313 

Humboldt insisted that the captain should allow one 
of the sailors to accompany him by land to the Boca 
Chica, the distance being only six miles ; but tire 
latter refused, on account of the savage state of the 
country, in which there was neither path nor habi- 
tation ; and an incident which occurred justified his 
prudence. The travellers were going ashore to ga- 
ther plants by moonlight, when there issued from 
the thicket a young negro loaded with fetters, and 
armed with a cutlass. He urged them to disem- 
bark on a beach covered with large Rhizophorce 
among which the sea did not break, and offered to 
conduct them to the interior of the island of Baru 
if they would give him some clothes ; but his cun- 
ning and savage air, his repeated inquiries as to 
their being Spaniards, and the unintelligible words 
addressed to his companions who were concealed 
among the trees, excited their suspicions, and in- 
duced them to return on board. These blacks were 
probably Maroon negroes, who had escaped from 
prison. The appearance of a naked man, wan- 
dering on an uninhabited shore, and unable to rid 
himself of the chains fastened round his neck and 
arm, left a painful impression on the travellers ; but 
the sailors felt so little sympathy with these miser- 
able creatures, that they wished to return and seize 
the fugitives, in order to sell them at Carthagena. 

Next morning they doubled the Punta Gigantes, 
and made sail towards the Boca Chica, the entrance 
to the port of Carthagena, which is eight or ten 
miles farther up. On landing, Humboldt learned 
that the expedition appointed to make a survey of 
the coast under the command of M. Fidalgo had 
not yet put to sea, and this circumstance enabled 



314 CARTHAGENA. 

him to ascertain the astronomical position of several 
places which it was of importance to determine. 

During the six days of their stay at Carthagena, 
they made excursions in the neighbourhood-, more 
especially in the direction of the Boca Grande, and 
the hill of Popa, which commands the town. The 
port or bay is nearly eleven miles and a half long. 
The small island of Tierra Bomba, at its two extre- 
mities, which approach, the one to a neck of land 
from the continent, the other to a cape of the isle 
of Bani, forms the only entrance to the harbour. 
One of these, named Boca Grande, has been arti- 
ficially closed, for the defence of the town, in conse- 
quence of an attack attended with partial success 
made by Admiral Vernon in 1741. The extent of the 
work was 2640 varas, or 2446 yards, and as the water 
was from 16 to 20 feet deep, a wall or dike of stone, 
from 16 to 21 feet high, was raised on piles. The 
other opening, the Boca Chica, is from 36 to 38 yards 
broad, but is daily becoming narrower, while the 
currents acting upon the Boca Grande have opened 
a breach in it, which they are continually extending. 

The insalubrity of Carthagena, which has been 
exaggerated, varies with the state of the great 
marshes that surround it. The Cienega de Tesca, 
which is upwards of eighteen miles in length, com- 
municates with the ocean ; and, when in dry years 
the salt water does not cover the whole plain, the 
exhalations that rise from it during the heat of the 
day become extremely pernicious. The hilly ground 
in the neighbourhood of the town is of limestone, 
containing petrifactions, and is covered by a gloomy 
vegetation of cactus, Jatropha gossypifolia, croton, 
and mimosa. While the travellers were searching 



RELIGIOUS MUMMERY. 315 

for plants, their guides showed them a thick bush 
of acacia cornigera, which had acquired celebrity 
from the following occurrence : A woman, wearied 
of the well-founded jealousy of her husband, bound 
him at night with the assistance of her paramour, 
and threw him into it. The thorns of this species 
of acacia are exceedingly sharp, and of great length, 
and the shrub is infested by ants. The more the 
unfortunate man struggled, the more severely was 
he lacerated by the prickles, and when his cries at 
length attracted some persons who were passing, he 
was found covered with blood, and cruelly torment- 
ed by the ants. 

At Carthagena the travellers met with several 
persons whose society was not less agreeable than 
instructive ; and in the house of an officer of artillery, 
Don Domingo Esquiaqui, found a very curious col- 
lection of paintings, models of machinery, and mi- 
nerals. They had also an opportunity of witnessing 
the pageant of the Pascua. Nothing, says Hum- 
boldt, could rival the oddness of the dresses of the 
principal personages in these processions. Beggars, 
carrying a crown of thorns on their heads, asked 
alms, with crucifixes in their hands, and habited in 
black robes. Pilate was arrayed in a garb of striped 
silk, and the apostles, seated round a large table 
covered with sweetmeats, were carried on the shoul- 
ders of Zambos. At sunset, effigies of Jews in 
French vestments, and formed of straw and other 
combustibles, were burnt in the principal streets. 

Dreading the insalubrity of the town, the travel- 
lers retired on the 6th April to the Indian village 
of Turbaco, situated in a beautiful district, at the 
entrance of a large forest, about VJ\ miles to the 
south-west of the Popa, one of the most remarkable 



316 



VILLAGE OF TURBACO. 



summits in the neighbourhood of Carthagena. Here 
they remained until they made the necessary pre- 
parations for their voyage on the Rio Magdalena, 
and for the long journey which they intended to 
make to Bogota, Popayan, and Quito. The village 
is about 1151 feet above the level of the sea. Snakes 
were so numerous that they chased the rats even in 
the houses, and pursued the bats on the roofs. From 
the terrace surrounding their habitation, they had a 
view of the colossal mountains of the Sierra Nevada 
de Santa Marta, part of which was covered with 
perennial snow. The intervening space, consisting 
of hills and plains, was adorned with a luxuriant 
vegetation, resembling that of the Orinoco. There 
they found gigantic trees, not previously known, such 
as the Bhinocarpus excelsa, with spirally-curved 
fruit, the Ocotea turbacensis, and the Cavanillesia 
platanifolia ; the large five- winged fruit of which 
is suspended from the tips of the branches like paper 
lanterns. They botanized every day in the woods 
from five in the morning till night, though they 
were excessively annoyed by mosquitoes, zancudoes, 
xegens, and other tipulary insects. In the midst of 
these magnificent forests they frequently saw plan- 
tations of bananas and maize, to which the Indians 
are fond of retiring at the end of the rainy season. 

The persons who accompanied the travellers on 
these expeditions often spoke of a marshy ground 
situated in the midst of a thicket of palms, and which 
they designated by the name of Los Volcancitos. 
They said that, according to a tradition preserved 
in the village, the ground had formerly been ignited, 
but that a monk had extinguished it by frequent 
aspersions of holy water, and converted the fire- 
volcano into a water- volcano. Without attaching 



VOLCANCITOS OF TURBACO. 319 

much credit to this tradition, the philosophers de- 
sired their guides to lead them to the spot. After 
traversing a space of about 5300 yards, covered with 
trunks of Cavanittesia, Piragra superba, and Gy- 
rocarpus, and in which there appeared here and 
there projections of a limestone rock containing pe- 
trified corals, they reached an open place of about 
908 feet square, entirely destitute of vegetation, 
but margined with tufts of Bromdia karatas. The 
surface was composed of layers of clay of a cl ark- 
gray colour, cracked by desiccation into pentagonal 
and heptagonal prisms. The volcancitos consist of 
fifteen or twenty small truncated cones rising in the 
middle of this area, and having a height of from 
19 to 25 feet. The most elevated were on the south- 
ern side, and their circumference at the base was 
from 78 to 85 yards. On climbing to the top of these 
mud- volcanoes, they found them to be terminated 
by an aperture, from 16 to 30 inches in diameter 
filled with water, through which air-bubbles ob- 
tained a passage j about five explosions usually tak- 
ing place in two minutes. The force with which 
the air rises would lead to the supposition of its 
being subjected to considerable pressure, and a 
rather loud noise was heard at intervals, preceding 
the disengagement of it fifteen or eighteen seconds. 
Each of the bubbles contained from 12 to 14^ cubic 
inches of elastic fluid, and their power of expansion 
was often so great that the water was projected 
beyond the crater, or flowed over its brim. Some 
of the openings by which air escaped were situated 
in the plain without being surrounded by any pro- 
minence of the ground. It was observed that when 
the apertures, which are not placed at the sum- 
mit of the cones, and are enclosed by a little 



320 VOLCANCITOS AND VEGETATION. 

mud wall from 10 to 15 inches high, are nearly conti- 
guous, the explosions did not take place at the same 
time. It would appear that each crater receives 
the gas by distinct canals, or that these, terminat- 
ing in the same reservoir of compressed air, op- 
pose greater or less impediments to the passage of 
the aeriform fluids. The cones have no doubt been 
raised by these fluids, and the dull sound that 
precedes the disengagement of them indicates that 
the ground is hollow. The natives asserted that 
there had been no observable change in the form 
and number of the cones for twenty years, and that 
the little cavities are filled with water even in the 
driest seasons. The temperature of this liquid was 
not higher than that of the atmosphere; the lat- 
ter having been 81*5°, and the former 80*6° or 81°, 
at the time of Humboldt's visit. A stick could easily 
be pushed into the apertures to the depth of six or 
seven feet, and the dark- coloured clay or mud was 
exceedingly soft. An ignited body was immediately 
extinguished on being immersed in the gas collected 
from the bubbles, which was found to be pure azote. 
The stay which our travellers made at Turbaco 
was uncommonly agreeable, and added greatly to 
their collection of plants. ec Even now," says Hum- 
boldt, writing in 1831, " after so long a lapse of 
time, and after returning from the banks of the Obi 
and the confines of Chinese Zungaria, these bam- 
boo thickets, that wild luxuriance of vegetation, 
those orchidese covering the old trunks of the ocotea 
and Indian fig, that majestic view of the snowy 
mountains, that light mist filling the bottom of the 
valleys at sunrise, those tufts of gigantic trees rising 
like verdant islets from a sea of vapours, incessantly 
present themselves to my imagination. At Turbaco 



PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. 321 

we lived a simple and laborious life. We were 
young; possessed a similarity of taste and disposition; 
looked forward to the future with hope; were on the 
eve of a journey which was to lead us to the highest 
summits of the Andes,, and bring us to volcanoes in 
action in a country continually agitated by earth- 
quakes ; and we felt ourselves more happy than at 
any other period of our distant expedition. The 
years which have since passed, not all exempt from 
griefs and pains, have added to the charms of these 
impressions ; and I love to think that, in the midst 
of his exile in the southern hemisphere, in the soli- 
tudes of Paraguay, my unfortunate friend, M. Bon- 
pland, sometimes remembers with delight our bo- 
tanical excursions at Turbaco, the little spring of 
Torecillo, the first sight of a gustavia in flower, or 
of the cavanillesia loaded with fruits having mem- 
branous and transparent edges." 

M. Bonpland's health having suffered severely dur- 
ing the navigation of the Orinoco and Casiquiare, 
they resolved to provide themselves with all the con- 
veniences necessary to secure their comfort during 
the ascent of the Rio Magdalena. They were ac- 
companied on this voyage by an old French physi- 
cian, M. de Rieux, and two Spaniards. Leaving 
Turbaco after a stay of ten days, in a cool and very 
dark night they passed through a wood of bamboos 
rising from 40 to 50 feet. At daybreak they reach- 
ed Arjona on the borders of the forest, crossed an 
arm of the Rio Magdalena in a canoe, and arrived 
at Mahates, where they had to wait nearly all day 
for the mules which were to convey their baggage 
to the place of embarkation. It was excessively hot, 
without a breath of wind, and to add to their vexa- 

u 



322 BARANCAS NUEVAS. 

tion, their only remaining barometer had been 
broken in passing the canal ; but they consoled them- 
selves by examining some beautiful species of par- 
rots which they obtained from the natives. 

On the 20th April, at three in the morning, 
the air feeling deliriously cool, although the ther- 
mometer was at 71 '6°, they were on their journey 
to the village of Barancas Nuevas, amid a forest 
of lofty trees. Half-way between Mahates and 
that hamlet they found a group of huts elegantly 
constructed of bamboos, and inhabited by Zambos. 
Humboldt remarks, that the intermixture of Indi- 
ans and negroes is very common in those countries, 
and that the women of the American tribes have a 
great liking to the men of the African race. To the 
east of Mahates the limestone formation, containing 
corals, ceases to appear; the predominant rocks being 
siliceous with argillaceous cement, forming alter- 
nating beds of small-grained quartzose and slaty 
sandstone, or conglomerates containing angular frag- 
ments of lydian-stone, clay-slate, gneiss, and quartz, 
and varying in colour from yellowish- gray to brown- 
ish-red. 

Hitherto the narrative of the important journey 
performed by Humboldt and Bonpland, through 
those little known but highly interesting regions 
of South America which were visited by them, has 
been given as much in detail as is consistent with 
the nature of a work like the present ; but here, as 
no minute account of their further progress has yet 
been laid before the public, we must cease to follow 
them step by step, and content ourselves with a 
brief narrative of their proceedings. 



ASCENT OF THE RIO MAGDALENA. 323 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Brief Account of the Journey from Carthagena to Quito 
and Mexico. 

Ascent of the Rio Magdalena — Santa Fe de Bogota — Cataract of 
Tequendama — Natural Bridges of Icononzo — Passage of Quin- 
diu — Cargueros — Popayan — Quito — Cotopaxi and Chimborazo — 
Route from Quito to Lima — Guayaquil — Mexico — Guanaxuato — 
Volcano of Jorullo — Pyramid of Cholula. 

It has been already stated that Humboldt, previously 
to leaving Paris,, had promised Baudin, that should 
his projected expedition to the southern hemisphere 
ever take place, he would endeavour to join it; and 
also that information received by him at Cuba had 
induced him to relinquish plans subsequently formed, 
and re-embark for the continent of South America, 
with the view of proceeding to Guayaquil or Lima, 
where he expected to meet the navigators. Accord- 
ingly he went to Carthagena, where he learned that 
the season was too far advanced for sailing from 
Panama to Guayaquil. Giving up, therefore, his 
intention of crossing the isthmus of Panama, he 
passed some days in the forests of Turbaco, and 
afterwards made preparations for ascending the Rio 
Magdalena. 

This river, from its sources near the equator, flows 
almost directly north. " Nature," says a traveller 
who sailed up it in 1823, " seems to have designedly 



324 RIO MAGDALENA. 

dug the bed of the Magdalena in the midst of the 
cordilleras of Colombia, to form a canal of commu- 
nication between the mountains and the sea ; yet it 
would have made nothing but an unnavigable tor- 
rent, had not its course been stopped in many parts 
by masses of rock disposed in such a manner as to 
break its violence. Its waters thus arrested flow 
gently into the plains of the provinces of Santa 
Martha and Carthagena, which they fertilize and 
refresh by their evaporation. Three very distinct 
temperatures reign on the Magdalena. The sea- 
breezes blow from its mouth as far as Monpox ; 
from this town to Morales not a breath of air tem- 
pers the heat of the atmosphere, and man would 
become a victim to its power, but for the abundant 
dews which fall during the night ; from Morales as 
far as the sources of the Magdalena, the south wind 
moderates the heat of the day, and forms the third 
temperature. These land-breezes cause the naviga- 
tion of the Magdalena to be rarely fatal to Euro- 
peans."* But, according to the same author, multi- 
tudes of animals of various species continually harass 
the traveller. He cannot bathe on account of the 
caymans, and if he venture on shore he is in dan- 
ger of being bitten by serpents. 

The voyage up this river, which lasted thirty-five 
days, w r as not performed without hazard and incon- 
venience. Humboldt sketched a chart of it, while 
his friend was busily occupied in examining the 
rich and beautiful vegetation of its banks. Disem- 
barking at Honda, they proceeded on mules by dan- 
gerous paths, through forests of oaks, melastomse, 

* Mollien's Travels in Colombia. 



SANTA FE DE BOGOTA. 325 

and cinchona?, to Santa Fe de Bogota the capital 
of New Grenada. This city stands in a beautiful 
valley surrounded by lofty mountains, and which 
would appear to have been at a former period the bed 
of a great lake. Here the travellers spent several 
months in exploring the mineralogical and botanical 
treasures of the country, the magnificent cataract 
of Tequendama, and the extensive collections of the 
celebrated Mutis. 

The elevated plain on which this metropolis is 
built, is 8727 feet above the level of the sea, and 
is consequently higher than the summit of St Ber- 
nard. The river of Funza, usually called Rio de 
Bogota, which drains the valley, has forced its way 
through the mountains to the south-west of Santa 
Fe, and near the farm of Tequendama rushes from 
the plain by a narrow outlet into a crevice, which 
descends towards the bed of the Rio Magdalena. 
Respecting this ravine, Gonzalo Ximenes de Que- 
sada, the conqueror of the country, found the fol- 
lowing tradition disseminated among the people : — 
In remote times the inhabitants of Bogota were bar- 
barians, living without religion, laws, or arts. An old 
man on a certain occasion suddenly appeared among 
them, of a race unlike that of the natives, and hav- 
ing a long bushy beard. He instructed them in the 
arts ; but he brought with him a very malignant, 
although very beautiful woman, who thwarted all 
his benevolent enterprises. By her magical power 
she swelled the current of the Funza, and inun- 
dated the valley; so that most of the inhabitants per- 
ished, a few only having found refuge in the neigh- 
bouring mountains. The aged visiter then drove 
his consort from the earth, and she became the moon* 



326 CATARACT OF TEQUENDAMA. 

He next broke the rocks that enclosed the valley on 
the Tequendama side,, and by this means drained off 
the waters ; then he introduced the worship of the 
sun, appointed two chiefs, and finally withdrew to 
a valley where he lived in the exercise of the most 
austere penitence during 2000 years. 

The cataract of Tequendama presents an assem- 
blage of all that is picturesque. The river a little 
above it is 144 feet in breadth, but at the crevice 
narrows to a width of not more than 12 yards. The 
height of the fall, which forms a double bound, is 574 
feet, and the column of vapour that rises from it is 
visible from Santa Fe at the distance of 17 miles. 
The vegetation at the foot of the precipice has a to- 
tally different appearance from that at the summit ; 
and while the spectator leaves behind him a plain in 
which the cereal plants of Europe are cultivated, 
and sees around him oaks, elms, and other trees re- 
sembling those of the temperate regions of the north- 
ern hemisphere, he looks down upon a country 
covered with palms, bananas, and sugar-canes. 

Leaving Santa Fe, in September 1801, the tra- 
vellers passed the natural bridges of Icononzo, formed 
by masses of rock lying across a ravine of immense 
profundity. The valleys of the Cordilleras are gene- 
rally crevices, the depth of which is often so great, 
that were Vesuvius seated in them its summit would 
not exceed that of the nearest mountains. One of 
these, that, namely, of Icononzo or Pandi, is pecu- 
liarly remarkable for the singular form of its rocks, 
the naked tops of which present the most pictu- 
resque contrast with the tufts of trees and shrubs 
which cover the edges of the gulf. A torrent, 
named the Summa Paz, forms two beautiful cas- 



NATURAL BRIDGES — ANDES. 327 

cades where it enters the chasm, and where it again 
escapes from it. A natural arch, Atl\ feet in length 
and 39 in breadth, stretches across the fissure at 
a height of 318 feet above the stream. Sixty-four 
feet below this bridge is a second composed of three 
enormous masses of rock, which have fallen so as to 
support each other. In the middle of it is a hole 
through which the bottom of the cleft is seen. The 
torrent, viewed from this place, seemed to flow 
through a dark cavern, whence arose a doleful 
sound, emitted by the nocturnal birds that haunt 
the abyss, thousands of which were seen flying over 
the surface of the water, supposed by Humboldt 
from their appearance to be goatsuckers. 

In the kingdom of New Grenada, from 2° 30' to 
5° 15' of north latitude, the cordillera of the Andes 
is divided into three parallel chains. The eastern 
one separates the valley of the Rio Magdalena from 
the plains of the Rio Meta, and on its western de- 
clivity are the natural bridges of Icononzo above 
mentioned. The central chain, which parts the 
waters between the basin of the Rio Magdalena 
and that of the Rio Cauca, often attains the limits 
of perpetual snow, and shoots far beyond it in the 
colossal summits of Guanacas, Baragan, and Quin- 
diu. The western ridge cuts off the valley of Cauca 
from the province of Choco and the shores of the 
South Sea. In passing from Santa Fe to Popayan 
and the banks of the river now mentioned, the tra- 
veller has to descend the eastern chain, either by the 
Mesa and Tocayma or the bridges of Icononzo, tra- 
verse the valley of the Rio Magdalena, and cross the 
central chain, as Humboldt did, by the mountain of 
Quindiu. 



328 PASSAGE OF THE QUINDIU. 

This mountain, which is considered as the most 
difficult passage in the cordilleras, presents a thick 
uninhabited forest, which, in the finest season, can- 
not be passed in less than ten or twelve days. Tra- 
vellers usually furnish themselves with a month's 
provision, as it often happens that the melting of 
the snow, and the sudden floods arising from it, pre- 
vent them from descending. The highest point of 
the road is 11,499| feet above the level of the sea, 
and the path, which is very narrow, has in several 
places the appearance of a gallery dug in the rock 
and left open above. The oxen, which are the beasts 
of burden commonly used in the country, can scarce- 
ly force their way through these passages, some of 
which are 6562 feet in length. The rock is covered 
with a thick layer of clay, and the numerous gul- 
lies formed by the torrents are filled with mud. 

In crossing this mountain the philosophers, follow- 
ed by twelve oxen carrying their collections and in- 
struments, were deluged with rain. Their shoes were 
torn by the prickles which shoot out from the roots 
of the bamboos, so that, unwilling to be carried on 
men's backs, they were obliged to walk barefooted. 
The usual mode of travelling, however, is in a chair 
tied to the back of a carguero or porter. When one 
reflects on the enormous fatigue to which these 
bearers are exposed, he is at a loss to conceive how 
the employment should be so eagerly embraced by 
all the robust young men who live at the foot of 
the Andes. The passage of Quindiu is not the 
only part of South America which is traversed in 
this manner. The whole province of Antioquia is 
surrounded by mountains so difficult to be crossed, 
that those who refuse to trust themselves to the 



CARGUEROS, OR MEN-CARRIERS. 329 

skill of a carguero, and are not strong enough to 
travel on foot,, must relinquish all thoughts of leaving 
the country. The number of persons who follow 
this laborious occupation, at Choco, Hague, and 
Medellin, is so great that our travellers sometimes 
met a file of fifty or sixty. Near the mines of Mexico 
there are also individuals who have no other employ- 
ment than that of carrying men on their backs. 

The cargueros, in crossing the forests of Quindiu, 
take with them bundles of the large oval leaves of the 
vijao, a plant of the banana family, the peculiar 
varnish of which enables them to resist rain. A 
hundredweight of these leaves is sufficient to cover 
a hut large enough to hold six or eight persons. 
When they come to a convenient spot .where they 
intend to pass the night, the carriers lop a few 
branches from the trees, with which they con- 
struct a frame ; it is then divided into squares by 
the stalks of some climbing plant, or threads of agave, 
on which are hung the vijao leaves, by means of a 
cut made in their midrib. In one of these tents, 
which are cool, commodious, and perfectly dry, our 
travellers passed several days in the valley of Bo- 
quia, amidst violent and incessant rains. 

From these mountains, where the truncated cone 
of Tolima, covered with perennial snow, rises amidst 
forests of styrax, arborescent passiflorse, bamboos, and 
waxpalms, they descended into the valley of Cauca 
towards the west. After resting some time at Ca- 
thago and Buga, they coasted the province of Choco, 
where platina is found among rolled fragments of 
basalt, greenstone, and fossil wood. 

They then went up by Caloto and the mines of 
Quilichao to Popayan, which is situated at the base 



330 RIO VINAGRE. 

of the snowy mountains of Purace and Sotara. This 
city,, the capital of New Grenada, stands in the beau- 
tiful valley of the Rio Cauca, at an elevation of 5906 
feet above the sea, and enjoys a delicious climate. 
On the ascent from Popayan towards the summit of 
the volcano of Purace, at a height of 8694 feet, is a 
small plain inhabited by Indians, and cultivated 
with the greatest care. It is bounded by two ra- 
vines, on the brink of which is placed a village of the 
same name. The gardens, which are enclosed with 
hedges of euphorbium, are watered by the springs 
that issue abundantly from the porphyritic rock; 
and nothing can be more agreeable than the con- 
trast between the beautiful verdure of this plain and 
the chain of dark mountains surrounding the vol- 
cano. The hamlet of Purace, which the travellers 
visited in November 1801, is celebrated for the fine 
cataracts of the Rio Vinagre, the waters of which 
are acid. This little river is warm towards its source, 
and after forming three falls, one of which is 394 
feet in height and is exceedingly picturesque, joins 
the Rio Cauca, which for 14 miles below the junc- 
tion is destitute of fish. The crater of the volcano 
is filled with boiling water, which, amid frightful 
noises, emits vapours of sulphuretted hydrogen. 

The travellers then crossed the precipitous Cordil- 
leras of Almaquer to Pasto, avoiding the infected 
and contagious atmosphere of the valley of Patia. 
From the latter town, which is situated at the foot 
of a burning vblcano, they traversed the elevated 
platform of the province of Los Pastos, celebrated for 
its great fertility; and after a journey of four months, 
performed on mules, arrived at Quito on the 6th 
January 1802. 



QUITO. 331 

The climate of this province is remarkably agree- 
able, and almost invariable. During the months of 
December, January, February, and March, it gene- 
rally rains every afternoon from half-past one to 
five ; but even at this season the evenings and morn- 
ings are most beautiful. The temperature is so mild 
that vegetation never ceases. " From the terrace of the 
government palace there* is one of the most enchant- 
ing prospects that human eye ever witnessed, or na- 
ture ever exhibited. Looking to the south, and glanc- 
ing along towards the north, eleven mountains cover- 
ed with perpetual snow present themselves, their 
bases apparently resting on the verdant hills that sur- 
round the city, and their heads piercing the blue arch 
of heaven, while the clouds hover midway down 
them, or seem to crouch at their feet. Among these 
the most lofty are Cayambeurcu, Imbaburu, Ilinisa,, 
Antisana, Chimborazo, and the beautifully-magni- 
ficent Cotopaxi, crowned with its volcano."* 

Nearly nine months were devoted to researches 
of various kinds. They made excursions to the 
snowy mountains of Antisana, Cotopaxi, Tun- 
guragua, and Chimborazo, the latter of which was 
considered as the highest on the globe until it 
was found to be exceeded by some of the colossal 
summits of the Himmaleh, and even by several in 
Upper Peru. In all these journeys they were ac- 
companied by a young man, son of the Marquis of 
Selva-alegre, who subsequently followed them to 
Peru and Mexico.t They twice ascended to the 

* Stevenson's Residence in South America, vol. ii. p. 324. 

-J* This accomplished individual, Don Carlos Montufar, of whom 
our author speaks with approbation, having connected himself with 
the popular party in the struggles of which the Spanish colonies 
have lately been the theatre, was seized in Quito, in 1811, by Don 



332 cotopaxi. 

volcanic summit of Pichincha, where they made ex- 
periments on the constitution of the air,, — its elasti- 
city, its electrical, magnetic, and hygroscopic quali- 
ties, — and the temperature of boiling water. 

Cotopaxi is the loftiest of those volcanoes of the 
Andes which have produced eruptions at recent pe- 
riods ; its absolute height being 18,878 feet, It is 
consequently 2625 feet higher than Vesuvius would 
be were it placed on the top of the Peak of Teneriffe. 
The scoriae and rocks ejected by it, and scattered 
over the neighbouring valleys, would form a vast 
mountain of themselves. In 1738 its flames rose 
2953 feet above the crater; and in 1744 its roarings 
were heard as far as Honda, on the Magdalena, at 
a distance of 690 miles. On the 4th April 1768, 
the quantity of ashes thrown out was so great, that 
in the towns of Hambato and Tacunga the inha- 
bitants were obliged to use lanterns in the streets. 
The explosion which took place in January 1803 
was preceded by the sudden melting of the snows 
which covered the surface; and our travellers, at 
the port of Guayaquil, 179^ miles distant, heard 
day and night the noises proceeding from it, like 
discharges of a battery. 

This celebrated mountain is situated to the south- 
east of Quito, at the distance of 41 miles, in the 
midst of the Andes. Its form is the most beautiful 
and regular of all the colossal summits of that 
mighty chain ; being a perfect cone, which is covered 
with snow, and shines with dazzling splendour at 
sunset. No rocks project through the icy covering, 

Toribio Montes, sentenced as a traitor, and shot through the back ; 
after which his heart was taken out and burnt. — See Stevenson's 
Residence in South America, vol. iii. p. 44. 






RIDGE OF THE ANDES. 333 

except near the edge of the crater, which is sur- 
rounded by a small circular wall. In ascending it 
is extremely difficult to reach the lower bound- 
ary of the snows, the cone being surrounded by 
deep ravines ; and, after a near examination of the 
summit, Humboldt thinks he may assert that it 
would be altogether impossible to reach the brink 
of the crater. 

It was mentioned that, in the kingdom of New 
Grenada, the Cordilleras of the Andes form three 
chains, in the great longitudinal valleys of which 
flow two large rivers. To the south of Popayan, 
on the table-land of Los Pastos, these three chains 
unite into a single group, which stretches far be- 
yond the equator. This group, in the kingdom of 
Quito, presents an extraordinary appearance from 
the river of Chota, the most elevated summits being 
arranged in two lines, forming as it were a double 
ridge to the cordilleras. These summits served for 
signals to the French academicians when employed in 
the measurement of an equinoctial degree. Bouguer 
considered them as two chains, separated by a lon- 
gitudinal valley ; but this valley Humboldt views 
as the ridge of the Andes itself. It is an elevated 
plain, from 8858 to 9515 feet above the level of 
the sea; and the volcanic summits of Pichincha, 
Cayambo, Cotopaxi, and other celebrated peaks, are, 
he thinks, so many protuberances of the great mass 
of the Andes. In consequence of the elevation of 
the territory of Quito, these mountains do not seem 
so high as many of much inferior altitude rising 
from a lower basis. 

On Chimborazo the line marking the inferior li- 
mit of perpetual snow is at a height somewhat ex- 



334 CHIMBORAZO. 

ceeding that of Mont Blanc. On a narrow ledgQ, 
which rises amidst the snows on the southern de- 
clivity, our travellers attempted on the 23d June to 
reach the summit. The point where they stopped 
to observe the inclination of the magnetic meridian 
was more elevated than any yet attained by man, 
being 3609 feet higher than the summit of Mont 
Blanc, and more than 3714 feet higher than La 
Condamine and Bouguer reached in 1745 on the 
Corazon. The ridge to which they climbed, and 
beyond which they were prevented from proceeding 
by a deep chasm in the snow, was 19,798 feet above 
the level of the sea ; but the summit of the moun- 
tain was still 1439 feet higher. The blood issued 
from their eyes, lips, and gums. The form of Chim- 
borazo is conical, but the top is not truncated like 
that of Cotopaxi, being rounded or semicircular in 
outline. 

While at Quito, Humboldt received a letter from 
the National Institute of France, Jby which he was 
apprized that Captain Baudin had set out for New 
Holland by the Cape of Good Hope. He was obliged 
therefore to renounce all thoughts of joining the ex- 
pedition, although the hope of being able to meet it 
had induced him to relinquish his plan of proceeding 
from Cuba to Mexico and the Philippine Islands, 
and had led him upwards of 3452 miles southward. 
The travellers, however, consoled themselves with the 
thought of having examined regions over which the 
eye of science had never before glanced ; and, resolv- 
ing henceforth to trust solely to their own resources, 
after spending some months in exploring the Andes, 
they set out in the direction of Lima. 

They first pointed their course to the great River 



UPPER AMAZON. 335 

Amazon, visiting the ruins of Lactacunga, Harn- 
bato, and Riobamba, in a country the face of which 
was entirely changed by the frightful earthquakes 
of 1797, that destroyed nearly 40,000 of the inha- 
bitants. They then with great difficulty passed 
to Loxa, where in the forests of Gonzanama and 
Malacates they examined the trees which yield the 
Peruvian bark. The vast extent of ground which 
they traversed in the course of their expedition af- 
forded them better opportunities than any botanist 
had ever enjoyed of comparing the different species 
of Cinchona. 

Leaving Loxa they entered Peru byAyavaca and 
Gouncabamba, traversing the ridge of the Andes 
to descend to the River Amazon. In two days 
they had to cross thirty-five times the Rio de Chay- 
ma. They saw the magnificent remains of the 
causeway of the Incas, which traversed the porphy- 
ritic summits from Cusco to Assouay, at a height 
varying from 7^70 to 11,510 feet. At the village 
of Chamaya, on a river of the same name, they 
took ship and descended to the Amazon. 

La Condamine, on his return from Quito to Para, 
embarked on this river only below Quebrada de 
Chuchunga ; and Humboldt, with the view of com- 
pleting the map made by the French astronomer, 
proceeded as far as the cataracts of Rentama. At 
Tomependa, the principal place of the province of 
Jaen de Bracamorros, he constructed a map of the 
Upper Amazon, from his own observations as well 
as from accounts received from the natives. Bon- 
pland employed himself, as usual, in examining the 
subjects of the vegetable kingdom, among which he 
discovered several new species of Cinchona. 



336 ARRIVAL AT LIMA. 

Returning to Pern, our travellers crossed the Cor- 
dillera of the Andes the fifth time. In seven degrees 
of south latitude they determined the position of the 
magnetic equator, or the line in which the needle 
has no inclination. They also examined the mines 
of Hualgayoc, where large masses of native silver 
are found at an elevation of 12,790 feet above the 
sea, and which, together with those of Pasco and 
Huantajayo, are the richest in Peru. From Caxa- 
marca, celebrated for its hot-springs and the ruins 
of the palace of Atahualpa, they went down to 
Truxillo. In this neighbourhood are the remains 
of the ancient Peruvian city Mansiche adorned by 
pyramids, in one of which an immense quantity of 
gold was discovered in the eighteenth century. De- 
scending the western slope of the Andes they be- 
held for the first time the Pacific Ocean, and the 
long narrow valley bounded by its shores, in which 
rain and thunder are unknown. From Truxillo 
they followed the arid coast of the South Sea, and 
arrived at Lima, where they remained several months. 
At the port of Callao, Humboldt had the satisfaction 
of observing the transit of Mercury, although the 
thick fog which prevails there sometimes obscures the 
sun for many days in succession. 

In January 1803 the travellers embarked for 
Guayaquil, in the vicinity of which they found a 
splendid forest of palms, plumeriae, taberna?-mon- 
tanae, and scitaminese. Here also they heard the 
incessant noises of the volcano of Cotopaxi, which 
had experienced a tremendous agitation on the 6th 
January. From Guayaquil they proceeded by sea 
to Acapulco in New Spain. At first, Humboldt's 
intention was to remain only a few months in Mex- 

5 



JOURNEY TO MEXICO. 337 

ico, and return as speedily as possible to Europe, 
more especially as his instruments, and in particu- 
lar the chronometers, were getting out of order, while 
he found it impossible to procure others. But the 
attractions of so beautiful and diversified a country, 
the great hospitality of its inhabitants, and the dread 
of the yellow fever of Vera Cruz, which usually at- 
tacks those who descend from the mountains between 
June and October, induced him to remain until the 
middle of winter. 

After making numerous observations and experi- 
ments on the atmospherical phenomena, the horary 
variations of the barometer, magnetism, and the na- 
tural productions of the country, our travellers set out 
in the direction of Mexico ; gradually ascending by 
the burning valleys of Mescala and Papagay r o, where 
the thermometer rose to 89* 6° in the shade, and where 
the river is crossed on fruits of Crescentia pinnata, 
attached to each other by ropes of agave. Reaching 
the elevated plains of Chilpantzuigo, Tehuilotepec, 
and Tasco, which are situated at a height varying 
from 3837 to 4476 feet above the sea, they entered 
a region blessed with a temperate climate, and pro- 
ducing oaks, cypresses, pines, tree-ferns, and the cul- 
tivated cereal plants of Europe. After visiting the 
silver-mines of Tasco, the oldest and formerly the 
richest of Mexico, they went up by Cuernaraca and 
Guachilaco to the capital. Here they spent some 
time in the agreeable occupation of examining nu- 
merous curiosities, antiquities, and institutions, in 
making astronomical observations, in studying the 
natural productions of the surrounding country, 
and in enjoying the society of enlightened indivi- 
duals. The longitude of Mexico, which had been 

x 



338 EXCURSIONS TO THE PROVINCES. 

misplaced two degrees on the latest maps, was accu- 
rately determined by a long series of observations. 

Our travellers next visited the celebrated mines of 
Moran and Real del Monte, and examined the obsi- 
dians of Oyamel, which form layers in pearlstone and 
porphyry, and were employed by the ancient Mexi- 
cans for the manufacture of knives. The cascade of 
Regla, a representation of which forms the vignette 
to the present volume, is situated in the neighbour- 
hood. The regularity of the basaltic columns is as re- 
markable as that of the deposites of Staffa. Most of 
them are perpendicular; though some are horizontal, 
and others have various degrees of inclination. They 
rest upon a bed of clay, beneath which basalt again 
occurs. Returning from this excursion in July 1803, 
they made another to the northern part of the king- 
dom, in the course of which they inspected the aper- 
ture made in the mountain of Suicog for the purpose 
of draining the valley of Mexico. They next passed 
by Queretaro, Salamanca, and the fertile plains of 
Yrapuato, on the way to Guanaxuato, a large city 
placed in a narrow defile, and celebrated for its mines. 
There they remained two months, making re- 
searches into the geology and botany of the neigh- 
bouring country. From thence they proceeded by 
the valley of San Jago to Valladolid, the capital of the 
ancient kingdom of Mechoacan ; and, notwithstand- 
ing a continuance of heavy autumnal rains, descended 
by Patzquaro, which is situated on the edge of an 
extensive lake towards the shores of the Pacific 
Ocean, to the plains of Jorullo. Here they entered 
the great crater, making their way over crevices ex- 
haling ignited sulphuretted hydrogen, and experi- 
encing much danger from the brittleness of the lava. 
The formation of this volcano is one of the most 



VOLCANO OF JORULLO. 339 

extraordinary phenomena which have been observ- 
ed on our globe. The plain of Malpais, covered 
with small cones from six to ten feet in height, is 
part of an elevated table-land bounded by hills of 
basalt, trachyte, and volcanic tufa. From the pe- 
riod of the discovery of America to the middle of the 
last century, this district had undergone no change 
of surface, and the seat of the crater was then co- 
vered with a plantation of indigo and sugar-cane ; 
when, in June 1759, hollow sounds were heard, and a 
succession of earthquakes continued for two months, 
to the great consternation of the inhabitants. From 
the beginning of September every thing seemed to 
announce the re-establishment of tranquillity ; but 
in the night of the 28th the frightful subterranean 
noises again commenced. The Indians fled to the 
neighbouring mountains. A tract not less than 
from three to four square miles in extent rose up in 
the shape of a dome ; and those who witnessed the 
phenomenon asserted, that flames were seen issuing 
from a space of more than six square miles, while 
fragments of burning rocks were projected to an im- 
mense height, and the surface of the ground undu- 
lated like an agitated sea. Two brooks which wa- 
tered the plantations precipitated themselves into 
the burning chasms. Thousands of the small cones 
described above, suddenly appeared, and in the 
midst of these eminences, called hornitos or ovens, 
six great masses, having an elevation of from 1312 
to 1640 feet above the original level of the plain, 
sprung up from a gulf running from N.N.E. to 
S.S.W. The most elevated of these mounds is the 
great volcano of Jorullo, which is continually burn- 
ing. The eruptions of this central volcano conti- 
nued till February 1760, when they became less fre- 



340 VOLCANO OF JORULLO. 

quent. The Indians,, who had abandoned all the 
villages within thirty miles of it, returned once 
more to their cottages, and advanced towards the 
mountains of Aguasarco and Santa Ines, to con- 
template the streams of fire that issued from the 
numberless apertures. The roofs of the houses 
of Queretaro, more than 166 miles distant, were 
covered with volcanic dust* Mr Lyell (Principles 
of Geology, vol. i. p. 379) states, on the authority of 
Captain Vetch, that another eruption happened in 
1819, accompanied by an earthquake, during which 
ashes fell at the city of Guanaxuato, 140 miles dis- 
tant from Jorullo, in such quantities as to lie six 
inches deep in the streets. 

When Humboldt visited this place, the natives 
assured him that the heat of the hornitos had for- 
merly been much greater. The thermometer rose 
to 203° when placed in the fissures exhaling aqueous 
vapour. Each of the cones emitted a thick smoke, 
and in many of them a subterranean noise was 
heard, which seemed to indicate the proximity of a 
fluid in ebullition. Two streams were at that period 
seen bursting through the argillaceous vaults, and 
were found by the traveller to have a temperature 
of 126*9°. The Indians give them the names of the 
two rivers which had been engulfed, because in se- 
veral parts of the Malpais great masses of water are 
heard flowing in a direction from east to west. Our 
author considers all the district to be hollow ; but 
Scrope and Lyell find it more suitable to their views 
of volcanic agency to represent the conical form of 
the ground as resulting from the flow of lava over 
the original surface of the plain. 

The Indians of this province are represented as 
being the most industrious of New Spain. They 



INDIANS OF MECHOACAN. 



341 




Costumes of the Indians of Mechoacan. 

have a remarkable talent for cutting out images in 
wood, and dressing them in clothes made of the pith 
of an aquatic plant, which being very porous im- 
bibes the most vivid colours. Two figures of this 
kind, which Humboldt brought home for the Queen 
of Prussia, are here represented. They exhibit the 
characteristic traits of the American race, together 
with a strange mixture of the ancient costume with 
that which was introduced by the Spaniards. 

From Valladolid, the ancient kingdom of Mechoa- 
can, the travellers returned to Mexico by the eleva- 
ted plain of Tolucca, after examining the volcanic 
mountains in the vicinity. They also visited the ce- 
lebrated cheiranthostsemon of Cervantes, a tree of 
which it was at one time supposed there did not 
exist more than a single specimen. 

At that city they remained several months, for the 



342 OCCUPATIONS OF THE TRAVELLERS. 

purpose of arranging their botanical and geological 
collections, calculating the barometrical and trigo- 
nometrical measurements which they had made, and 
sketching the plates of the Geological Atlas which 
Humboldt proposed to publish. They also assisted 
in placing a colossal equestrian statue of the king, 
which had been cast by a native artist. In January 
1804 they left Mexico with the intention of examining 
the eastern declivity of the cordillera of New Spain. 
They also measured the great pyramid of Cholula, 
an extraordinary monument of the Toltecks, from 
the summit of which there is a splendid view of the 
snowy mountains and beautiful plains of Tlascala. 
It is built of bricks, which seemed to have been 
dried in the sun, alternating with layers of clay. 
They then descended to Xalapa, a city placed at 
an elevation of 4138 feet above the sea, in a de- 
lightful climate. The dangerous road which leads 
from it to Perote, through almost impenetrable fo- 
rests, was thrice barometrically levelled by Hum- 
boldt. Near the latter place is a mountain of ba- 
saltic porphyry, remarkable for the singular form of 
a small rock placed on its summit, and which is 
named the Coffer of Perote. This elevation com- 
mands a very extensive prospect over the plain of 
Puebla and the eastern slope of the cordilleras of 
Mexico, which is covered with dense forests. From 
it they also saw the harbour of Vera Cruz, the castle 
of St Juan of Ulloa, and the seacoast. 

Before following our travellers across the Atlantic, 
it may be useful to present a sketch of the valuable 
observations recorded in Humboldt's Political Es- 
say on the Kingdom of New Spain, and which are 
in part the result of his researches in that interest- 
ing country. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 343 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Description of New Spain or Mexico. 

General Description of New Spain or Mexico — Cordilleras — Cli- 
mates — Mines — Rivers — Lakes — Soil — Volcanoes — Harbours — 
Population — Provinces — Valley of Mexico, and Description of 
the Capital — Inundations, and Works undertaken for the Purpose 
of preventing- them. 

Previous to Humboldt's visit to New Spain,, the 
information possessed in Europe respecting that in- 
teresting and important country was exceedingly 
meagre and incorrect. The ignorance of the Euro- 
pean conquerors, the indolence of their successors, 
the narrow policy of the government, and the want 
of scientific enterprise among the Creoles and Spa- 
niards, left it for centuries a region of dim obscurity 
into which the eye of research was unable to pene- 
trate. So inaccurate were the maps, that even the 
latitude and longitude of the capital remained un- 
fixed, and the inhabitants were thrown into con- 
sternation by the occurrence of a total eclipse of 
the sun on the 21st February 1803 ; the almanacs, 
calculating from a false indication of the meridian, 
having announced it as scarcely visible. The de- 
termination of the geographical position of many of 
the more remarkable places, that of the altitude of the 
volcanic summits and other eminences, together with 
the vast mass of intelligence contained in the Po- 



344 



SPANISH SETTLEMENTS. 



litical Essay on New Spain, served to dispel in 
some measure the darkness ; and since the period of 
Humboldt's visit numerous travellers have contri- 
buted so materially to our acquaintance with Mexico, 
that it no longer remains among the least known of 
those remote countries of the globe over which the 
power of Europe has extended. 

Although the independence of the American states 
has now been confirmed, and their political rela- 
tions entirely changed since the time our author was 
there, the aspect of nature continues the same in 
those extensive regions ; and, as we have less to do 
with their history and national circumstances than 
with the discoveries of the learned traveller, we 
shall follow, as heretofore, his descriptions of the 
countries examined by him in the relations in which 
they then stood. 

The Spanish settlements in the New Continent 
formerly occupied that immense territory comprised 
between 41° 43' of south latitude and 37° 48' of 
north latitude, equalling the whole length of Af- 
rica, and exceeding the vast regions possessed by 
the Russian empire or Great Britain in Asia. 
They were divided into nine great governments, of 
which five, viz. the viceroyalties of Peru and New 
Grenada, the capitanias-generales of Guatimala, 
Porto Rico, and Caraccas, are entirely intertropical, 
while the other four, viz. the viceroyalties of Mex- 
ico and Buenos Ayres, and the capitanias-generales 
of Chili and Havannah, including the Floridas, are 
chiefly situated in the temperate zones. Mexico 
was the most important, as well as the most civilized 
of the whole, and was long considered as such by 
the court of Madrid. 



GEOGRAPHICAL RELATIONS OF MEXICO. 345 

The name of New Spain was at first given in 
1518 to the province of Yucatan,, where the com- 
panions of Grijalva were astonished at the civilisa- 
tion of the inhabitants. Cortez employed it to de- 
note the whole empire of Montezuma, though it was 
subsequently used in various senses. Humboldt 
designates by it the vast country which has for its 
northern and southern limits the parallels of 38° 
and 16°. The length of this region from S.S.E. 
to N.N.W. is nearly 1678 miles; its greatest breadth 
994 miles. The isthmus of Tehuantepec, to the 
south-east of the port of Vera Cruz,, is the narrowest 
part ; the distance from the Atlantic Ocean to the 
South Sea being there only 155 miles. The question 
of opening a communication by a canal between the 
two oceans at this point, the isthmus of Panama, 
or several others which he mentions, is fully dis- 
cussed by the author. He discredits the idea that 
the level of the South Sea is higher than that of 
the Gulf of Mexico, and imagines that were a rup- 
ture of the intervening barrier effected, the current 
would establish itself in the direction opposite to 
that usually apprehended. 

When a general view is taken of the whole sur- 
face of Mexico, it is seen that one-half is situated 
within the tropic, while the rest belongs to the tem- 
perate zone. This latter portion contains 775,019 
square miles. The physical climate of a country 
does not altogether depend upon its distance from the 
pole, but also upon its elevation, its proximity to the 
ocean, and other circumstances; so that of the 645,850 
square miles in the torrid zone, more than three- 
fifths have a cold, or at least temperate atmosphere. 
The whole interior of Mexico, in fact, constitutes 



346 PLATFORMS OF THE ANDES. 

an immense table-land, having an elevation which 
varies from 6562 to 8202 feet above the level of 
the sea. 

The chain of mountains which forms this vast plain 
is continuous with the Andes of South America. In 
the southern hemisphere the cordillera is every where 
broken up by fissures or valleys of small breadth ; 
but in Mexico it is the ridge itself that constitutes the 
platform. In Peru the most elevated summits form 
the crest of the Andes, while in the other the pro- 
minences are irregularly scattered over the plain, 
and have no relation of parallelism to the direction 
of the cordillera. In Peru and New Grenada there 
are transverse valleys, having sometimes 4590 feet 
of perpendicular depth, which entirely prevent the 
use of carriages ; while in New Spain vehicles are 
used along an extent of more than 1726 miles. The 
general height of the table-land of Mexico is equal 
to that of Mount Cenis, St Gothard, or the Great St 
Bernard of the Swiss Alps ; and to determine this 
circumstance Humboldt executed five laborious ba- 
rometrical surveys, which enabled him to construct 
a series of vertical sections of the country. 

In South America the cordillera of the Andes pre- 
sents plains completely level at immense altitudes, 
such as that on which the city of Santa Fe de Bo- 
gota stands, that of Caxamarca in Peru, and those 
of Antisana, which exceed in height the summit of 
the Peak of Teneriffe. But all these levels are of 
small extent, and being separated by deep valleys 
are of difficult access. In Mexico, on the other 
hand, vast tracts of champaign country are so 
approximated to each other as to form but a single 
plain occupying the elongated ridge of the cordil- 



DIVERSITY OF CLIMATE. 347 

lera, and running from the 18th to the 40th degree 
of north latitude. The descent towards the coasts 
is by a graduated series of terraces, which oppose 
great difficulties to the communication between the 
maritime districts and the interior, presenting at the 
same time an extraordinary diversity of vegetation. 

The plains along the coasts are the only parts 
that possess a climate adapted to the productions of 
the West Indies, — the mean temperature of those 
situated within the tropics, and whose elevation does 
not exceed 984 feet, being from 77° to 78-8°, which 
is several degrees greater than the mean temperature 
of Naples. These fertile regions, which produce 
sugar, indigo, cotton, and bananas, are named Tier* 
ras calientes. Europeans remaining in them for 
any considerable time, particularly in the towns, are 
liable to the yellow fever or black vomiting. On the 
eastern shores the great heats are occasionally tem- 
pered by strata of refrigerated air brought from the 
north by the impetuous winds that blow from Octo- 
ber to March, which frequently cool the atmosphere 
to such a degree, that at Havannah the thermome- 
ter descends to 32°, and at Vera Cruz to 60-8°. 

On the declivities of the cordillera, at the eleva- 
tion of 3937 or 4921 feet, there prevails a mild 
climate, never varying more than four or five de- 
grees. To this region, of which the mean annual 
temperature is from 68° to 69*8°, the natives give the 
name of Tierras templadas. Unfortunately these 
tracts are frequently covered with thick fogs, as they 
occupy the height to which the clouds usually as- 
cend above the level of the sea. 

The plains which are elevated more than 7218 
feet above that level, and of which the mean tern- 



348 DIVERSITY OF CLIMATE. 

perature is under 62-6°, are named Tierras frias. 
The whole table-land of Mexico belongs to this de- 
scription, which the natives consider cold, although 
the ordinary warmth is equal to that of Rome. There 
are plains of still greater elevation, on which, al- 
though they have a mean temperature of from 51*8° 
to 55*4°, equal to that of France and Lombardy, the 
vegetation is less vigorous, and European plants do 
not thrive so well as in their native soil. The win- 
ters there are not extremely severe, but in summer 
the sun has not sufficient power over the rarified 
air to bring fruits to perfect maturity. 

From the peculiar circumstances of New Spain, 
as here sketched, the influence of geographical posi- 
tion upon the vegetation is much less than that of 
the height of the ground above the sea. In the 
nineteenth and twentieth degrees of latitude, sugar, 
cotton, cacao, and indigo, are produced abundantly 
only at an elevation of from 1968 to 2625 feet. 
Wheat thrives on the declivities of the mountains, 
along a zone which commences at 4593 feet and 
ends at 9843. The banana (Musa paradisiaca), 
on the fruit of which the inhabitants of the tropics 
chiefly subsist, is seldom productive above 5085 
feet ; oaks grow only between 2625 and 9843 feet ; 
and pines never descend lower than 6096, nor rise 
above 13,124 feet. 

The internal provinces of the temperate zone en- 
joy a climate essentially different from that of the 
same parallels in the Old Continent. So remark- 
able an inequality prevails indeed between the tem- 
perature of the seasons, that while the winters re- 
semble those of Germany the summers are like 
those of Sicily. A similar difference exists between 



MINES — RIVERS — LAKES. 349 

the other parts of America and the corresponding 
latitudes in Europe ; but it is less perceptible on the 
western than on the eastern coasts. 

New Spain possesses a peculiar advantage in 
the circumstances under which the precious metals 
have been deposited. In Peru the most important 
silver mines, those of Potosi, Pasco, and Chota, are 
placed at an immense elevation ; so that, in working 
them, men, provisions, and cattle, must be brought 
from a distance ; but in Mexico the richest of these, 
those, namely, of Guanaxuato, Zacatecas, Tasco, 
and Real del Monte, are at moderate heights, and 
surrounded by cultivated fields, towns, and villages. 

There are few rivers of consequence in the country, 
the Rio Bravo del Norte and the Rio Colorado being 
the only ones of any magnitude. The former has 
a course of 1767 miles, the latter of 863; but these 
streams flow in the least cultivated parts of the 
country, and can have little influence in a commer- 
cial point of view until colonization shall extend to 
their shores. In the whole equinoctial part of New 
Spain there are only small rivulets, of which very 
few can ever become interesting to the merchant. 

The numerous lakes, the greater part of which 
appear to be annually decreasing in size, are the 
remains of immense basins of water that formerly 
existed on the elevated plains. Of these may be 
mentioned the lake of Chapala, nearly 2067 square 
miles in extent; those of the valley of Mexico, 
which comprehend a fourth part of its surface ; that 
of Patzcuaro in Valladolid ; and, finally, the lakes 
of Mexitlan and Parras in New Biscay. 

The interior of New Spain, and especially a great 
part of the elevated table-land of Anahuac, is arid 



350 SNOW-LINE TEMPERATURE. 

and destitute of vegetation ; which arises from the 
rapid evaporation in high plains, and the circum- 
stance that few of the mountains enter the region 
of perpetual snow, which under the equator com- 
mences at the height of 15,748 feet, and in the 45th 
degree of latitude at that of 8366 feet. In Mexico, 
in the 19th and 20th degrees, perpetual frost com- 
mences, according to Humboldt's measurements, at 
15,092 feet of elevation; so that of the six colossal 
summits, which are placed in the same line in the 
19th parallel of latitude, only four, namely, the 
Peak of Orizaba, Popocatepetl, Iztaccihuatl, and 
Nevado de Tolucca, are clothed with perennial 
snow ; while the Cofre de Perote and the Volcan 
de Colmia remain uncovered during the greater part 
of the year. None of the other mountains rise into 
so lofty a region. 

In general, in the equinoctial part of New Spain, 
the soil, climate, and vegetation, present a similar 
character to those of the temperate zone. Although 
the table-lands are singularly cold in winter, the 
temperature is much higher in summer than in the 
Andes of Peru, because the great mass of the Cordil- 
lera of Mexico, and the vast extent of its plains, pro- 
duce a reverberation of the sun's rays never observed 
in elevated countries of greater inequality. 

To the north of 20° the rains, which fall only in 
June, July, August, and September, very seldom 
extend to the interior. The mountains, being com- 
posed of porous amygdaloid and fissured porphyries, 
present few springs ; the filtrated water losing itself 
in the crevices opened by ancient volcanic erup- 
tions, and issuing at the bottom of the cordilleras. 

The aridity of the central plain, on which there 



VOLCANOES — COASTS. 351 

is a great deficiency of wood, is prejudicial to the 
working of the mines; and this natural evil has 
been augmented since the arrival of Europeans, who 
have not only destroyed the trees without planting 
others, but have drained a large extent of ground, 
and thus increased the saline efflorescences which 
cover the surface and are hostile to cultivation. This 
dryness, however, is confined to the more elevated 
plains ; and the declivities of the cordillera be- 
ing exposed to humid winds and fogs, their vegeta- 
tion is uncommonly vigorous. 

Mexico is less disturbed by earthquakes than 
Quito, Guatimala, and Cumana, although these de- 
structive commotions are by no means rare on the 
western coasts, and in the neighbourhood of the ca- 
pital, where, however, they are never so violent as 
in other parts of America. There are only five 
active volcanoes in all New Spain : Orizaba, Popo- 
catepetl, Tustla, Jorullo, and Colima. 

The physical situation of that kingdom confers in- 
estimable advantages upon it, in a commercial point 
of view. Under careful cultivation it is capable of 
producing all that commerce brings together from 
every part of the globe: sugar, cochineal, cacao, 
cotton, coifee, wheat, hemp, flax, silk, oil, and 
wine. It furnishes every metal, not even except- 
ing mercury, and is supplied with the finest tim- 
ber ; but the coasts oppose obstacles which it will 
be difficult to overcome. The western shores are 
indeed furnished with excellent harbours ; but the 
eastern are almost entirely destitute of them, the 
mouths of the rivers there being choked up with 
sands, which are constantly adding to the land. 
Vera Cruz, the principal port on this side, is merely 



352 TEMPESTS OF THE GULF OF MEXICO. 

an open road. Both coasts, too, are rendered inacces- 
sible for several months by severe tempests, which 
prevent all navigation. The north winds, los nor- 
tes, prevail in the Mexican Gulf from the autumnal 
to the vernal equinox. They are very violent in 
March, though usually more moderate in Septem- 
ber and October. The navigators who have long 
frequented the port of Vera Cruz are familiar with 
the symptoms of the coming storm, which is pre- 
ceded by a great change in the barometer, and a 
sudden interruption in the regular occurrence of its 
horary oscillations. At first a gentle land-wind blows 
from W.N.W., and is succeeded by a breeze rising 
from the N.E. then from the S. A suffocating heat 
succeeds, and the water dissolved in the atmosphere 
is precipitated on the walls and pavements. The 
summits of Orizaba, of the Cofre de Perote, and 
the mountains of Villa Rica, are cloudless, while 
their bases are concealed by vapours. In this state 
of the air the tempest commences, usually with great 
impetuosity, and generally continues three or four 
days. Occasionally, even in May, June, July, and 
August, violent hurricanes are experienced in the 
Gulf of Mexico. The navigation of the western 
coasts is very dangerous in July and August, when 
sudden gales burst from the S.W.; and even in the 
fine season, from October to May, furious winds 
sometimes blow from the N.E. and N.N.E. In 
short, all the coasts of New Spain are at certain pe- 
riods dangerous to navigators. 

It is probable that Mexico was formerly better in- 
habited than it is at present ; but its population was 
concentrated in a very small space in the neighbour- 
hood of the capital. At the present day it is more 
6 



POPULATION OF NEW SPAIN. 353 

generally distributed than it was before the con- 
quest, and the number of Indians has increased 
during the last century. According to an imper- 
fect census made in 1794, the return was estimated 
at 5,200,000. The proportion of births to deaths, 
during the time between that period and Humboldt's 
visit, was found, from data furnished by the clergy, 
to be 170 : 100; while that of births to the total 
amount he considers as 1 in 17, and of the deaths 
as 1 in 30. The annual number at present born he 
estimates at nearly 350,000, and that of deaths at 
200,000. It w r ould thus appear that, if this rate of 
increase were not checked from time to time by some 
extraordinary cause, the population of New Spain 
would double every nineteen years. In the United 
States generally it has doubled, since 1784, every 
twenty or twenty-three years ; and in some of them 
it doubles in thirteen or fourteen. In France, on the 
other hand, the number of inhabitants would double 
in 214 years were no w r ars or contagious diseases to 
interfere. Such is the difference between countries 
that have long been densely peopled and those whose 
civilisation is of recent date. Humboldt, from vari- 
ous considerations, assumes the population of Mexico 
in 1803 at 5,800,000 ; and thinks it extremely pro- 
bable that in 1808 it exceeded 6,500,000. 

The causes which retard the increase of numbers 
in Mexico are the small-pox ; a disease called by 
the Indians matlazahuatl ; and famine. The first 
of these, which was introduced in 1520, seems to 
exert its power at periods of 17 or 18 years. In 
1763, and in 1779, it committed dreadful ravages, 
having carried off during the latter, in the capital 
alone, more than 9000 persons. In 1797 it was less 

Y 



354 EPIDEMIC DISEASES. 

destructive, chiefly in consequence of the zeal with 
which inoculation was propagated ; between 50,000 
and 60,000 individuals having undergone the opera- 
tion. The vaccine method was introduced in vari- 
ous parts of Mexico and South America at the com- 
mencement of the present century. Humboldt 
mentions a curious circumstance, tending to show 
that the discovery of our celebrated countryman, 
Dr Jenner, had long been known to the country 
people among the Andes of Peru. A negro slave, 
who had been inoculated for the small-pox, showed 
no symptom of the disease, and when the practition- 
ers were about to repeat the operation, told them he 
was certain that he should never take it ; for, when 
milking cows in the mountains, he had been affected 
with cutaneous eruptions, caused, as the herdsmen 
said, by the contact of pustules sometimes found on 
the udders. 

The frightful distemper called matlazahuatl, which 
is peculiar to the Indian race, seldom appears more 
than once in a century. It bears some resemblance 
to the yellow fever or black vomiting, which, how- 
ever, very seldom attacks the natives. The extent of 
its ravages is not known with any degree of certainty, 
and it has not yet been submitted to medical inves- 
tigation. Torquedama asserts that in 1545 it de- 
stroyed 800,000, and 2,000,000 in 1576 ; but these 
estimates are considered by Humboldt as greatly 
exaggerated. 

A third obstacle to the progress of population in 
New Spain is famine. The American Indians, na- 
turally indolent, contented with the smallest quan- 
tity of food on which life can be supported, and 
living in a fine climate, merely cultivate as much 



ELEMENTS OF THE POPULATION. 355 

maize,, potatoes, or wheat, as is necessary for their 
own maintenance, or at most for the additional con- 
sumption of the adjacent towns and mines. The 
inhabitants of Mexico have increased in a greater 
ratio than the means of subsistence, and accordingly, 
whenever the crops fall short of the demand, or are 
damaged by drought or other local causes, famine 
ensues. With want of food comes disease; and 
these visitations, which are of not unfrequent oc- 
currence, are very destructive. 

The working of the mines has also contributed to 
the depopulation of America. At the period of the 
conquest many Indians perished from excessive toil, 
and, as they were forced from their homes to distant 
places, they usually died without leaving progeny. 
In New Spain, however, such labour has been free 
for many years. The number employed in it does 
not exceed 28,000 or 30,000, and the mortality among 
them is not much greater than in other classes. 

The Mexican population consists of the same ele- 
ments as that of the other Spanish colonies. Seven 
races are distinguished : — 1. Gachupines, or persons 
born in Europe ; 2. Spanish Creoles, or Whites of 
European extraction born in America ; 3. Mestizoes, 
descendants of Whites and Indians ; 4. Mulattoes, 
descendants of Whites and Negroes; 5. Zambos, 
descendants of Negroes and Indians ; 6. Indians of 
the indigenous race ; and, 7- African Negroes. 

The Indians appear to constitute at least two-fifths 
of the whole. Humboldt seems to favour the opinion, 
that the Aztecs, who inhabited New Spain at the 
period of the conquest, may have been of Asiatic 
origin. As the migrations of the American tribes 
have always taken place from north to south, the 



356 CHARACTER OF THE INDIANS. 

native population of this country must necessarily 
consist of very heterogeneous elements. The num- 
ber of languages exceeds 20 ; and of these fourteen 
have tolerably complete grammars and dictionaries. 
Most of these tongues, so far from being only dialects 
of the same, as some authors have asserted, pre- 
sent as little affinity to each other as the Greek and 
the German. The variety spoken by the indigenous 
inhabitants of America forms a very striking con- 
trast with the small number used in Asia and 
Europe. The Aztec or Mexican is the most widely 
distributed. 

The Indians of New Spain bear a general resem- 
blance to those of Florida, Canada, Peru, and Bra- 
zil. They have the same dingy copper colour, 
straight and smooth hair, deficient beard, squat 
body, elongated and oblique eyes, prominent cheek- 
bones, and thick lips. But although the American 
tribes have thus a certain uniformity of character, 
they differ as much from each other as the numer- 
ous varieties of the European or Caucasian race. 
Those who live in this province have a more swar- 
thy complexion than the inhabitants of the warm- 
est parts of the South. They have also a much 
more abundant beard than the other tribes, and 
in the neighbourhood of the capital they even wear 
small moustaches. Pursuing a quiet and indolent 
life, and accustomed to uniform nourishment of a 
vegetable nature, they would no doubt attain a very 
great longevity were they not extremely addicted to 
drunkenness. They exist in a state of great moral 
degradation, being entirely destitute of religion, al- 
though they have exchanged their original rites for 
those of Catholicism. The men are grave, melan- 



DISTRICTS OR INTENDANCIES. 357 

cholic, and taciturn ; forming a striking contrast to 
the negroes,, who for this reason are preferred by 
the Indian women. Long habituated to slavery, 
they patiently suffer the privations to which they 
are frequently subjected ; opposing to them only a 
degree of cunning, veiled under the appearance 
of apathy and stupidity. Although destitute of 
imagination, they are remarkable for the facility 
with which they acquire a knowledge of languages ; 
and, notwithstanding their usual taciturnity, they 
become loquacious and eloquent when excited by 
important occurrences. It is unnecessary to speak 
of the negroes, of whom there are very few in Mexi- 
co, their character being the same as in other coun- 
tries where slavery is permitted. 

No city of the New Continent, not even except- 
ing those of the United States, possesses more im- 
portant scientific establishments than Mexico. Of 
these Humboldt mentions particularly the School of 
Mines, the Botanic Garden, which has however 
fallen into a state of neglect, and the Academy of 
Fine Arts. The influence of this institution is per- 
ceptible in the symmetry of the buildings which 
adorn the capital. 

New Spain is divided into 15 districts, which 
he arranges as follows : — 

I. In the Temperate Zone — 82,000 square 
leagues; 677*000 inhabitants, or 8 to the square 
league — (1,059,193 square miles; inhabitants -*% to 
the square mile). 

A. Northern Region, in the interior. 

1 . Province of New Mexico, along the Rio del Norte, to the 
north of the parallel of 31 Q . 



358 DISTRICTS OR INTENDANCIES. 

2. Intendancy of New Biscay, to the south-west of the Rio 

del Norte, on the central table-land. 

B. North-western Region, in the vicinity of the Pacific Ocean. 

3. Province of New California, on the north-west coast of 

North America. 

4. Province of Old California, the southern extremity of which 

enters the torrid zone. 

5. Intendancy of La Sonora, which also passes the tropic. 

C. North-eastern Region, adjoining the Gulf of Mexico. 

6. Intendancy of San Luis Potosi. 

II. In the Torrid Zone — 36,500 square leagues; 
5,160,000 inhabitants, or 141 to the square league — 
(471^470 square miles; inhabitants 11 to the square 
mile). 

D. Central Region. 

7. Intendancy of Zacatecas. 

8. Intendancy of Guadalaxara. 

9. Intendancy of Guanaxuato. 

10. Intendancy of Valladolid. 

11. Intendancy of Mexico. 
I 12. Intendancy of Puebla. 

13. Intendancy of Vera Cruz. 
E. South-western Region. 

14. Intendancy^ of Oaxaca. 

15. Intendancy of Merida. 

Without attempting to present an analysis of our 
author's statistical account of these different pro- 
vinces, we shall select from his descriptions those 
parts which may prove most interesting to the 
general reader. 

1. The intendancy of Mexico is entirely within 
the torrid zone. More than two-thirds of it are 
mountainous, and contain extensive plains elevated 
from 2131 to 2451 feet above the sea. Only one 
summit, theNevado deTolucca, 15, 158 feet in height, 
enters the region of perpetual snow. 

The valley of Mexico, or Tenochtitlan, which is 
of an oval form, is situated in the centre of the Cor- 
dillera of Anahuac, and is 63 miles in length by 



INTENDANCY OF MEXICO. 359 

43 in breadth. It is surrounded by a ridge of 
mountains, more elevated on the southern side, 
where it is confined by the great volcanoes of La 
Puebla, Popocatepetl, and Iztaccihuatl. The capi- 
tal stands in the immediate vicinity of one of the 
great lakes which exist in this beautiful valley, al- 
though formerly it was placed on an island in that 
sheet of water, and communicated with the shore by 
three great dikes. This city is represented by Hum- 
boldt as one of the finest ever built by Europeans 
in either hemisphere, and all travellers agree in 
admiring its beauty. " From an eminence," says 
Captain Lyon in his interesting Journal, " we came 
suddenly in sight of the great valley of Mexico, with 
its beautiful city appearing in the centre surround- 
ed by diverging shady paseos, bright fields, and 
picturesque haciendas. The great lake of Tezcuco 
lay immediately beyond it, shaded by a low float- 
ing cloud of exhalations from its surface, which hid 
from our view the bases of the volcanoes of Popo- 
catepetl and Iztaccihuatl ; while their snowy sum- 
mits, brightly glowing beneath the direct rays of 
the sun, which but partially illumined the plains, 
gave a delightfully novel appearance to the whole 
scene before me. I was, however, at this distance, 
disappointed as to the size of Mexico ; but its live- 
ly whiteness and freedom from smoke, the magni- 
tude of the churches, and the extreme regularity of 
its structure, gave it an appearance which can never 
be seen in a European city, and declare it unique, 
perhaps unequalled in its kind/' 

The ground it occupies is every where perfectly le- 
vel, the streets are regular and broad, the architecture 
generally of a very pure style, and many of the 



360 CITY OF MEXICO. 

buildings are remarkably beautiful. Two kinds of 
hewn stone, a porous amygdaloid and a glassy fel- 
spar porphyry, are used. The houses are not loaded 
with decorations, nor disfigured by wooden balconies 
and galleries. The roofs are terraced; and the streets, 
which are clean and well lighted, have very broad 
pavements. The water of the lake is brackish, as is 
that of all the wells ; but the city is supplied by 
two fine aqueducts. The objects which generally 
attract the notice of travellers are, 1. The cathedral, 
which has two towers ornamented with pilasters 
and statues; 2. The treasury; 3. The convents, of 
which the most distinguished is that of St Francis ; 
4. The hospital ; 5. The acordada, a fine building, 
of which the prisons are spacious and well aired ; 
6. The school of mines ; 7- The botanical garden ; 
8. The university ; 9. The academy of fine arts ; 
10. The equestrian statue of Charles IV. in the 
great square. 

Few remains of ancient monuments are to be 
found in the town or its vicinity. Of those that ex- 
ist, the chief are the ruins of the Aztec dikes and 
aqueducts ; the sacrificial stone, adorned with a re- 
lievo representing the triumph of a Mexican king ; 
the great calendar in the plaza mayor ; the colossal 
statue of the goddess Teoyaomiqui in one of the 
galleries of the university; the Aztec manuscripts 
or hieroglyphical pictures preserved in the house of 
the viceroys ; and the foundations of the palace be- 
longing to the sovereigns of Alcolhuacan at Tezcuco. 

The only remarkable antiquities in the valley of 
Mexico are the remains of the two pyramids of San 
Juan de Teotihuacan, to the north-east of the lake 
of Tezcuco, consecrated to the sun and moon. One 



ANCIENT MONUMENTS. 361 

of these in its present state is a hundred and fifty 
feet in height,, the other a hundred and forty-four. 
The interior is clay mixed with small stones., while 
the facings are of porous amygdaloid,, and they are 
surrounded by a group of smaller elevation, dis- 
posed in a regular series. Another ancient object 
worthy of notice is the military entrenchment 
of Xochicalco, to the S.S.W. of the town of Cuer- 
navaco, near Teteama. It consists of a hill 387 
feet high, surrounded by ditches or trenches, and 
divided into five terraces covered with masonry; 
the whole forming a truncated pyramid, the four 
faces of which correspond to the four cardinal points. 
The porphyritic stones are adorned with hierogly- 
phical figures, among which are crocodiles, and men 
sitting cross-legged in the Asiatic manner. Other 
relics and places connected with the history of the 
conquest are shown to the stranger ; but of these it is 
unnecessary to speak. 

Our author estimates the population of Mexico 
as follows : — 

Inhabitants. 

White Europeans, 2,500 

White Creoles, 65,000 

Copper-coloured natives, 33,000 

Mestizoes, mixture of Whites and Indians,.. 26,500 
Mulattoes, 10,000 

137,000 

The annual number of births for a mean term of 
100 years is 5930, and that of deaths 5050; while 
in New Spain in general, the relation of the births 
to the population is as 1 to 17, and that of the deaths 
as 1 to 30, so that the mortality in the capital ap- 
pears much greater. The great conflux of sick per- 
sons to the hospitals, and on the other hand the 



362 CONSUMPTION OF MEXICO. 

celibacy of the numerous clergy, the progress of 
luxury, and other causes, induce this disproportion. 
According to researches made by the Count de 
Revillagigedo, the consumption of Mexico in 1791 
was as follows : — 



I. ANIMAL FOOD. 

Oxen, 16,300 

Calves, 450 

Sheep, , 278,923 

Hogs, 50,676 

Kids and Rabbits, 24,000 



Fowls, 1,255,340 

Ducks, 125,000 

Turkeys, 205,000 

Pigeons, 65,300 

Partridges, 140,000 



II. GRAIN. 

Maize, or Indian corn — cargas of 3 fanegas, 117,224=545,219 I. S. 

bushels. 
Barley— cargas, 40,219=187,062 I. S. bushels. 
Wheat flour, cargas of 12 arrobas, 130,000=353,229 cwt. 

III. LIQUIDS. 

Pulque, the fermented juice of agave — cargas, 294,790=800,987 

cwts. 
Wine and vinegar barrels of 4.* arrobas, 4,507=71 5 7o6 I* S. galls. 
Brandy— barrels, 12,000=191,052 I. S. galls. 
Spanish oil— arrobas of 25 pounds, 5,585=15,530 I. S. galls. 

The market is abundantly supplied with vege- 
tables of numerous kinds, which are brought in 
every morning by the Indians in boats. Most of 
these are cultivated on the chinampas or gardens, 
some of which float upon the neighbouring sheet of 
water, while others are fixed in the marshy grounds.* 

The surface of the four principal lakes in the val- 
ley of Mexico occupies nearly a tenth of its extent, 

* " These are long narrow stripes of ground redeemed from the 
surrounding swamp, and intersected by small canals. They all ap- 
peared to abound in very fine vegetables, and lively-foliaged pop- 
lars generally shadowed their extremities. The little gardens con- 
structed on bushes or wooden rafts no longer exist in the immediate 
vicinity of Mexico ; but I learnt that some may yet be seen at 
Inchimilco, a place near San Augustin de las Cuevas." — Captain 
Lyon! a Journal of a Residence and Tour in the Republic of 
Mexico, vol. ii. p. 110. 






LAKES — INUNDATIONS. 363 

or 168 square miles. The lake of Xochimilco con- 
tains 49^, that of Tezcuco 77; of San Christobal 27^ 
and of Zurapango 9 T 9 n , square miles. The valley 
itself is a basin enclosed by a wall of porphyritic 
mountains, and all the water furnished by the sur- 
rounding cordilleras is collected in it. No stream 
issues from it excepting the brook of Tequisquiac, 
which joins the Rio de Tula. The lakes rise by 
stages in proportion to their distance from its centre, 
or, in other words, from the site of the capital. Next 
to the lake of Tezcuco, Mexico is the least elevated 
point of the valley, the plaza mayor or great square 
being only 1 foot 1 inch higher than the mean level 
of its water, which is llf feet lower than that of 
San Christobal. Zumpango, which is the most 
northern, is 29*211 inches higher than the surface 
of Tezcuco ; while that of Chalco, at the southern 
extremity, is only 3*632 feet more elevated than the 
great square of Mexico. 

In consequence of this peculiarity the city has 
for a long series of ages been exposed to inundations. 
The lake of Zumpango, swelled by an unusual rise 
of the Rio de Guautitlan, flows over into that of San 
Christobal, which again bursts the dike that sepa- 
rates it from Tezcuco. The water of this last is con- 
sequently augmented, and flows with impetuosity 
into the streets of Mexico. Since the arrival of the 
Spaniards the town has experienced five great floods, 
the latest of which happened in 1629. In more 
recent periods there have been several alarming ap- 
pearances, but the city was preserved from any ac- 
tual loss by the desague or canal, which was formed 
for the purpose. 

The situation of the capital is more exposed to dan- 



364 WORKS UNDERTAKEN FOR 

ger, because the bed of the lake is progressively ris- 
ing in consequence of the mud carried into it, and the 
difference between it and the level of the plain di- 
minishing. Previous to the conquest, and for some 
time after, it was defended by dikes ; but this me- 
thod having been found ineffectual, the viceroy in 
1607 employed Enrico Martinez, a native of Ger- 
many, to effect the evacuation of the lakes. After 
making an exact survey of the valley he presented 
two plans for canals, the one to empty those of Tez- 
euco, Zumpango, and San Christobal, the other to 
drain that of Zumpango alone. The latter scheme 
was adopted, and in consequence, the famous sub- 
terraneous gallery of Nochistongo was commenced 
on the 28th November 1607- Fifteen thousand In- 
dians were employed, and after eleven months of 
continued labour the work was completed. Its 
length was more than 21,654 feet, its breadth 
11-482, and its height 13780. On the opposite 
side of the hill of Nochistongo is the Rio de Tula, 
which runs into the Rio de Panuco, and from 
the northern or further extremity of the gallery 
an open trench, 28,216 feet long, was cut to carry 
the water to the former river. Soon after the cur- 
rent began to flow through this artificial channel, 
it gradually occasioned depositions and erosions, so 
that it became necessary to support the roof, which 
was composed of marl and clay. For this purpose 
wood was at first employed, and afterwards masonry; 
but the arches being soon undermined, the passage 
at length was obstructed. 

Several plans were now proposed, and in 1614 
the court of Madrid sent to Mexico a Dutch engi- 
neer, Adrian Boot, who advised the construction of 



PREVENTING THE INUNDATIONS. 365 

great dikes after the Indian plan. A new viceroy, 
however, having recently arrived, who had never 
witnessed the effects of an inundation, ordered Mar- 
tinez to stop up the subterraneous passage,, and make 
the water of the upper lakes return to the bed of the 
Tezcuco, that he might see if the danger w T ere really 
so great as it had been represented. Being con- 
vinced that it was so, he ordered the German to re- 
commence his operations in the gallery. The engi- 
neer accordingly proceeded to clear it, and con- 
tinued working until the 20th June 1629, when 
finding the mass of water too great to be received 
by this narrow outlet, he closed it in order to prevent 
its destruction. In the morning the city of Mexico 
was flooded to the depth of three feet, and, con- 
trary to expectation, remained in that state for five 
years. In this interval various plans were pro- 
posed for draining the neighbouring lake, although 
none of them was carried into effect ; but the inun- 
dation at length subsided in consequence of a suc- 
cession of earthquakes. 

Martinez, who had been imprisoned from a belief 
that he had closed the gallery for the purpose of af- 
fording the incredulous a proof of the utility of his 
work, was now set at liberty, and constructed the 
dike of San Christobal. He was ordered to enlarge 
the gallery; but the operations were conducted with 
very little energy, and in the end it was determined 
to abandon the plan, to remove the top of the vault, 
and to convert it into an open passage by cutting 
through the hill. A lawyer, named Martin de Solis, 
undertook the management of this enterprise; though 
it required nearly two centuries to complete the 
work ; the canal not being opened in its whole length 



366 INTENDANCY OF PUEBLA. 

until 1789. As it now appears, it is stated by 
Humboldt to be one of the most gigantic hydraulic 
operations executed by man. Its length is 67,537 
feet, its greatest depth 197, and its greatest breadth 
361. 

The safety of the capital depends, 1st, On the 
stone dikes which prevent the water of the lake of 
Zumpango from passing into that of San Christo- 
bal, and the latter from flowing into the Tezcuco ; 
2d, On the dikes and sluices which prevent the 
lakes of Chalco and Xochimilco from overflowing; 
3d, On the great cut of Enrico Martinez, by which 
the Rio de Guautitlan passes across the hills into 
the valley of Tula; and, 4th, On the canals by which 
the Zumpango and San Christobal may be com- 
pletely drained. These means however, expen- 
sive and numerous as they must appear, are in- 
sufficient to secure it against inundations proceed- 
ing from the north and north-west ; and our author 
asserts, that it will continue exposed to great risks 
until a canal shall be directly opened from the lake 
of Tezcuco. 

The intendancy of Mexico contains, besides the 
capital, several towns of considerable size, of which 
the more important are, Tezcuco, Acapulco, Tolucca, 
and Queretaro, the latter having a population of 
thirty-five thousand. 

2. The government of Puebla is wholly situated 
in the torrid zone, and is bounded on the north-east 
by that of Vera Cruz, on the south by the ocean, 
on the east by the province of Oaxaca, and on the 
west by that of Mexico. It is traversed by the 
cordilleras of Anahuac, and contains the highest 
mountain in New Spain, the volcano of Popo- 



INTENDANCY OF GUANAXUATO. 367 

catepetl. A great portion, however, consists of an 
elevated plain, on which are cultivated wheat, maize, 
agave, and fruit-trees. 

The population is concentrated on this table-land, 
extending from the eastern slope of the Nevados, or 
Snowy Mountains, to the vicinity of Perote. It 
exhibits remarkable vestiges of ancient Mexican ci- 
vilisation. The great pyramid of Cholula has a 
much larger base than any edifice of the kind in 
the Old Continent, its horizontal breadth being not 
less than 1440 feet ; but its present height is only 
fifty-nine yards, while the platform on its summit 
has a surface of 45,210 feet. 

At the village of Atlixco is seen a cypress (Cu- 
pressus disticha) *J6 feet in circumference, which 
is probably one of the oldest vegetable monuments 
on the globe.* There are very considerable salt- 
works in this intendancy, and a beautiful marble is 
quarried in the vicinity of Puebla. The principal 
towns are that just named, containing a population 
of 67,800, Cholula, Tlascala, and Atlixco. 

3. The intendancy of Guanaxuato, situated on 
the ridge of the cordillera of Anahuac, is the most 
populous in New Spain, and contains three cities, 
Guanaxuato, Celayo, and Salvatierra, four towns, 
37 villages, and 448 farms or haciendas. It is in 



* u On entering- the gardens of Chapultepec (near Mexico), the 
first object that strikes the eye is the magnificent cypress (Sabino 
Ahuahuete. or Cupressus disticha), called the Cypress of Mon- 
tezuma. It had attained its full growth when that monarch was 
on the throne (1520), so that it must now be at least 400 years 
old, yet it still retains all the vigour of youthful vegetation. The 
trunk is 41 feet in circumference, yet the height is so majestic as to 
make even this enormous mass appear slender." — Ward's Mexico 
in 1827, vol. ii. p. 230. The same author mentions another cypress, 
38 feet in girth, and of equal height to that of Montezuma. 



363 VALLADOLID — GUADALAXARA — ZACATECAS. 

general highly cultivated, and possesses the most 
important mines in that section of the New World. 

4. The intendancy of Valladolid is bounded on the 
north by the Rio de Lerma ; on the east and north- 
east by that of Mexico ; on the south by the district 
of Guanaxuato ; and on the west by the province 
of Guadalaxara. Being situated on the western de- 
clivity of the cordillera of Anahuac and intersected 
by hills and beautiful valleys, it in general enjoys a 
mild and temperate climate. The volcano of Jorul- 
lo, already described, is situated in this intendancy, 
which has three cities, three towns, and 263 villages. 
The southern part is inhabited by Indians. 

5. The province of Guadalaxara is bounded on 
the north by the governments of Sonora and Du- 
rango, on the east by those of Zacatecas and Guan- 
axuato, on the south by the district of Valladolid, 
and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Its greatest 
breadth is 345 miles, and its greatest length 407- 
It is crossed from east to west by the Rio de San- 
tiago, which is of considerable size. The eastern por- 
tion consists of the elevated platform and western 
declivity of the cordilleras of Anahuac. The mari- 
time parts are covered with forests which abound 
in excellent timber. The volcano of Colima, si- 
tuated in this district, is the most western of those 
of New Spain. It frequently throws up ashes and 
smoke ; but its height is not so great as to carry its 
summit into the region of perpetual snow. The 
most remarkable towns are, Guadalaxara, which 
has a population of 19,500, San Bias, a port at the 
mouth of the Santiago, and Compostella. 

6. The intendancy of Zacatecas, bounded on the 
north by Durango, on the east by San Luis Potosi, 

6 



OAXACA MERIDA. 369 

on the south by Guanaxuato, and on the west by 
Guadalaxara, is 293 miles in lengthy and 176 in 
breadth. The table-land, which forms its central 
part, is composed of syenite and primitive slate. 
Near Zacatecas are nine small lakes abounding in 
muriate and carbonate of soda. This district is very 
thinly peopled, although the town has 33,000 in- 
habitants. 

7- The intendancy of Oaxaca is one of the most 
delightful countries in the New Continent, possess- 
ing great fertility of soil and salubrity of climate. 
It is bounded on the north by Guatimala ; on the 
west by the province of Puebla ; and on the south 
by the Pacific Ocean. The mountainous parts are 
composed of granite and gneiss. The vegetation is 
every where exceedingly beautiful. At the village of 
Santa Maria del Tule, ten miles east of the capital, 
there is an enormous trunk of Cupressus dtsttcha, 
118 feet in circumference, though it seems rather to 
be formed of three stems grown into one. 

The most remarkable object in this district is 
the palace of Mitla, the walls of which are deco- 
rated with grecques and labyrinths in mosaic, re- 
sembling the ornaments of Tuscan vases. It con- 
sists of three edifices, and is moreover distinguished 
from other ancient Mexican buildings by six por- 
phyritic columns which support the ceiling of a vast 
hall. These pillars have neither base nor capital ; 
each exhibits a single block of stone, and the height 
is about sixteen feet. Oaxaca, the principal town, 
contained, in the year 1792, twenty-four thousand 
inhabitants. Some of the mines are very productive. 

8. The intendancy of Merida comprehends the 
great peninsula of Yucatan, situated between the 



370 INTENDANCY OF 

Bay of Campeachy and that of Honduras. It is 
bounded on the south by Guatimala, on the east by 
the province of Vera Cruz, and on the west by the 
English establishments which extend from the mouth 
of the Rio Hondo to the north of the Bay of Hanover. 
This peninsula is a vast plain,, intersected by a chain 
of hills ; and though one of the wannest, it is at the 
same time one of the healthiest provinces of equinoc- 
tial America. The latter circumstance is to be at- 
tributed to the extreme dryness of the soil and at- 
mosphere. No European grain is produced; but 
maize, jatropha, and dioscorea are cultivated in 
abundance. The Hoematoxylon or Campeachy 
wood abounds in several districts. Merida, the 
capital, has a population of 10,000. 

9. The government of Vera Cruz extends along 
the Mexican Gulf from the Rio Baraderas to the 
great river of Panuco. The western part forms the 
declivity of the cordilleras of Anahuac, from whence, 
amid the regions of perpetual snow, the inhabitants 
descend in a day to the burning plains of the coast. 
In this district are displayed in a remarkable man- 
ner the gradations of vegetation, from the level of the 
sea to those elevated summits which are visited with 
perennial frost. In ascending, the traveller sees the 
physiognomy of the country, the aspect of the sky, 
the form of the plants, the figures of animals, the man- 
ners of the inhabitants and the kind of cultivation 
followed by them, assuming a different appearance 
at every step. Leaving the lower districts, covered 
with a beautiful and luxuriant vegetation, he first 
enters that in which the oak appears, where he has no 
longer cause to dread the yellow fever, so fatal on the 
coasts. Forests of liquidambar, near Xalapa, an- 



VERA CRUZ. 371 

nounce by their freshness the elevation at which 
the strata of clouds,, suspended over the ocean, come 
in contact with the basaltic summits of the Cordil- 
leras. A little higher the banana ceases to yield 
fruit. At the height of San Miguel pines begin to 
mingle with the oaks, which continue as far as the 
plains of Perote. where the cereal vegetation of Eu- 
rope is seen. Beyond this, the former alone cover 
the rocks, the tops of which enter the region of per- 
petual frigidity. 

At the foot of the cordillera, in the evergreen fo- 
rests of Papautla, Nautla, and S. Andre Tuxtla, 
grows the vanilla, the fruit of which is used for 
perfuming chocolate. The beautiful convolvulus, 
whose root furnishes the jalap of the apothecaries, 
grows near the Indian villages of Colipa and Mis- 
autla. The pimento-myrtle is produced in the woods 
which extend towards the river of Baraderas. On 
the declivities of Orizaba, tobacco of excellent qua- 
lity is cultivated ; and the sarsaparilla grows in the 
moist and shady ravines. Cotton and sugar of ex- 
cellent quality are produced along the greater part 
of the coast. 

In this intendancy are two colossal summits, — 
the volcano of Orizaba, which after Popocatepetl is 
the highest in New Spain, and the Cofre de Perote, 
which is nearly 1312 feet more elevated than the 
Peak of Teneriffe. In its northern part, near the 
Indian village of Papautla, is a pyramidal edifice 
of great antiquity situated in the midst of a thick 
forest. It is not constructed of bricks, or clay mixed 
with stone, and faced with amygdaloid, like those 
of Cholula and Tectihuacan ; on the contrary, the 
materials employed have been immense blocks of 



372 VERA CRUZ. 

porphyry. The base is an exact square,, 82 feet on 
each side, and the perpendicular height seems to 
he about sixty. It is composed of several stages, of 
which some are still distinguishable. A great stair 
of 57 steps conducts to the truncated summit. 

The most remarkable cities are Vera Cruz, Perote, 
Cordoba, and Orizaba. The first of these, the centre 
of European and West Indian commerce, is beauti- 
fully and regularly built ; but it is situated in an 
arid plain destitute of running water and partly 
covered with shifting sand-hills, which contribute 
to increase the suffocating heat of the air. In the 
midst of these downs are marshy lands covered 
with rhizophorse and other plants. No stones for 
architectural purposes are to be found near the city, 
which is entirely constructed of coral rock drawn 
from the bottom of the sea. The water is very bad, 
and is obtained either by digging in the sandy soil, 
or by collecting the rain in cisterns. 

Xalapa, the population of which is estimated at 
13,000, occupies a very romantic situation at the 
foot of the basaltic mountain of Macultepec, sur- 
rounded by forests of styrax, piper, melastomse, and 
tree-ferns. The sky is beautiful and serene in 
summer, but from December to February it has a 
most melancholy aspect, and, whenever the north 
wind blows, is overcast to such a degree that the 
sun and stars are frequently invisible for two or 
three weeks together. Some of the merchants of 
Vera Cruz have country-houses at Xalapa, where 
they enjoy a cool and agreeable retreat, while the 
coast is almost uninhabitable, on account of the 
intense heats, the mosquitoes, and the yellow fever. 

10. The captaincy of San Luis Potosi embraces 



NORTHERN DISTRICTS. 373 

the whole north-eastern part of New Spain, and is 
extremely diversified in its character. The only 
portion which is cold and mountainous is that ad- 
joining the province of Zacatecas, and in which are 
the rich mines of Charcas, Guadalcagar, and Catorce. 
There is a great extent of low ground, partly cul- 
tivated, but for the most part barren and uninhabit- 
ed. Its coast line is more than 794 miles in length ; 
but hardly any commerce enlivens it, owing to the 
deficiency of harbours. The mouths of the rivers, 
too, are blocked up by bars, necks of land, and long 
islands running parallel to the coast. 

1] .New Biscay or Durango occupies a greater space 
of ground than Great Britain and Ireland, though 
its population does not exceed 160,000. It is bound- 
ed on the south by Zacatecas and Guadalaxara ; on 
the south-east by San Luis ; and on the west by 
Sonora. On the northern and eastern sides, for more 
than 690 miles, it borders on an uncultivated coun- 
try inhabited by independent Indians. This in- 
tendancy comprehends the northern extremity of the 
great table-land of Anahuac, which declines towards 
the Rio Grande del Norte. 

12. The province of Sonora is still more thinly 
peopled than Durango. It extends on the shores of 
the Gulf of California more than 966 miles. 

13. New Mexico, which is very sparingly inhabit- 
ed, stretches along the Rio Norte, and has a remark- 
ably cold climate. 

14. Old California equals England in extent of 
territory, but has only a population of 9000. The 
soil of this peninsula is parched and sandy, and the 
vegetation feeble ; but the sky is constantly clear and 
of a deep blue; the light clouds which sometimes ap- 



374 CALIFORNIA. 

pear presenting at sunset the most beautiful shades 
of violet, purple, and green. A chain of moun- 
tains, the highest of which is about 5000 feet, runs 
through the centre of the peninsula, and is inhabited 
by animals resembling the mouflon of Sardinia, 
which the Spaniards call wild sheep. The princi- 
pal attraction which California has afforded to Eu- 
ropeans since the 16th century is the great quantity 
of pearls found in it, and which, although frequent- 
ly of an irregular form, are large and of a very beau- 
tiful water. At the present day, however, this fish- 
ery is almost entirely abandoned. 

15. New California is a long and narrow country, 
identifying itself with the shore of the Pacific Ocean 
from the isthmus of Old California to Cape Mendo- 
cino. It is extremely picturesque, and enjoys a 
fertile well- watered soil, with a temperate climate. 
Wheat, barley, maize, beans,and other useful plants, 
thrive well, as do the vine and olive ; but the popu- 
lation is scanty compared to the territory. A Cordil- 
lera of small elevation runs along the coast, and the 
forests and prairies are filled with deer of gigantic 
size. 



PLANTS CULTIVATED IN MEXICO. 375 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Statistical Account of New Spain continued. 

Agriculture of Mexico — Banana, Manioc, and Maize — Cereal 
Plants — Nutritive Roots and Vegetables — Agave Americana — 
Colonial Commodities — Cattle and Animal Productions. 

A country extending from the sixteenth to the 
thirty-seventh degree of latitude, and presenting a 
great variety of surface, necessarily affords numerous 
modifications of climate. Such is the admirable 
distribution of heat on the globe, that the strata of 
the atmosphere become colder as we ascend, while 
those of the sea are warmest near the surface. Hence, 
under the tropics, on the declivities of the cordilleras, 
and in the depths of the ocean, the plants and ma- 
rine animals of the polar regions find a temperature 
suited to their development. It may easily be con- . 
ceived that, in a mountainous country like Mexico, 
having so great a diversity of elevation, tempera- 
ture, and soil, the variety of indigenous productions 
must be immense ; and that most of the plants cul- 
tivated in other parts of the globe may there find 
situations adapted to their nature. 

There, however, the principal objects of agriculture 
are not the productions which European luxury 
draws from the West India Islands, but the grasses, 
nutritive roots, and the agave. The appearance of 
the land proclaims to the traveller that the natives 



376 MINES FAVOURABLE TO CULTURE. 

are nourished by the soil, and that they are inde- 
pendent of foreign commerce. Yet agriculture is 
by no means so flourishing as might be expected 
from its natural resources, although considerable 
improvement has been effected of late years. The 
depressed state of cultivation, it is true, has been 
attributed to the existence of numerous rich mines ; 
but Humboldt, on the contrary, maintains that the 
working of these ores has been beneficial in causing 
many places to be improved which would other- 
wise have remained steril. When a vein is opened 
on the barren ridge of the Cordilleras, the new co- 
lonists can only draw the means of subsistence from 
a great distance. Want soon excites to industry, and 
farms begin to be established in the neighbourhood. 
The high price of provisions indemnifies the cultiva- 
tor for the hard life to which he is exposed, and the 
ravines and valleys become gradually covered with 
food. When the mineral treasures are exhausted, 
the workmen no doubt emigrate, so that the popu- 
lation is diminished ; but the settlers are retained 
by their attachment to the spot in which they have 
passed their childhood. The Indians, moreover, pre- 
fer living in the solitudes of the mountains remote 
from the whites, and this circumstance tends to in- 
crease the number of inhabitants in such districts. 

In describing the vegetable productions of New 
Spain, our author begins with those which form the 
principal support of the people, then treats of the class 
which affords materials for manufacture, and ends 
with such as constitute objects of commerce. 

The banana (Musa paradisiaca) is to the in- 
habitants of the torrid zone what the cereal grasses, 
— wheat, barley, and rye, — are to Western Asia and 



BANANA. 377 

Europe, and what the numerous varieties of rice 
are to the natives of India and China. Forster 
and other naturalists have maintained,, that it did 
not exist in America previous to the arrival of the 
Spaniards, but that it was imported from the Ca- 
nary Islands in the beginning of the 16th century ; 
and in support of this opinion may be adduced the 
silence of Columbus, Alonzo Negro, Pinzon, Ves- 
pucci, and Cortes, with respect to it. This circum- 
stance, however, only proves the inattention of these 
travellers to the productions of the soil; and it is pro- 
bable that the Musa presented several species indi- 
genous to different parts of both continents. The space 
favourable to the cultivation of this valuable plant in 
Mexico is more than 50,000 square leagues, and has 
nearly a million and a half of inhabitants. In the 
warm and humid valleys of Vera Cruz, at the foot of 
the Cordillera of Orizaba, the fruit occasionally ex- 
ceeds 11*8 inches in circumference, with a length of 
seven or eight. A bunch sometimes contains from 
160 to 180, and weighs from 66 to 88 lb. avoirdupois. 
Humboldt doubts whether there is any other plant 
on the globe which, in so small a space of ground, 
can produce so great a mass of nutriment. Eight 
or nine months after the sucker has been inserted 
in the earth the banana begins to form its clusters, 
and the fruit may be gathered in less than a year. 
When the stalk is cut, there is always found among 
the numerous shoots which have put forth roots 
one that bears three months later. A plautation 
is perpetuated without any other care than that of 
cutting the stems on which the fruit has ripened, 
and giving the earth a slight dressing. A spot of 
1076 feet may contain at least from thirty to forty 



378 BANANA — MANIOC. 

plants, which, in the space of a year, at a very mo- 
derate calculation, will yield more than 4410 ft>. 
avoirdupois of nutritive substance. Our author es- 
timates, that the produce of the banana is to that of 
wheat as 133 : 1, and to that of potatoes as 44 : 1. 

In America numerous preparations are made of 
this fruit, both before and after its maturity. When 
fully ripe it is exposed to the sun, and preserved 
like our figs ; the skin becoming black, and exhaling 
a peculiar odour like that of smoked ham. This 
dry banana (platano passado), which is an object of 
commerce in the province of Mechoacan, has an agree- 
able taste, and is a very wholesome article of food. 
Meal or flour is obtained from it, by being cut into 
slices, dried in the sun, and pounded. 

It is calculated that the same extent of ground in 
Mexico on which the banana is raised is capable of 
maintaining fifty individuals, whereas in Europe, 
under wheat it would not furnish subsistence for 
two ; and nothing strikes a traveller more than the 
diminutive appearance of the spots under culture 
round a hut which contains a numerous family. 

The region where it is cultivated produces also the 
valuable plant (Jatropha), of which the root, as is 
well known, affords the flour of manioc, usually con- 
verted into bread, and furnishes what the Spanish 
colonists call pan de tierra caliente. This vege- 
table is only successfully grown within the tropics, 
and in the mountainous region of Mexico is never 
seen above the elevation of 2625 feet. Two kinds 
are raised, the sweet and the bitter. The root of 
the former may be eaten without danger, while that 
of the latter is a very active poison. Both may 
be made into bread ; but the bitter is preferred for 



MANIOC — MAIZE. 379 

this purpose, the poisonous juice being carefully se- 
parated from the fecula, called cassava, before mak- 
ing the dough. Raynal asserted that the manioc 
was transported from Africa to America to serve for 
the maintenance of the negroes; but our author 
shows that it was cultivated there long before the 
arrival of Europeans on that side of the Atlantic. 
The bread made of it is very nutritive ; but, be- 
ing extremely brittle, it does not answer for distant 
carriage. The fecula, however, grated, dried, and 
smoked, is used on journeys. The root loses its poi- 
sonous qualities on being boiled, and in this state the 
decoction is used as a sauce, although serious acci- 
dents sometimes happen when it has not been long 
enough exposed to heat. The husbandry of it, we 
may observe, requires more care than that of the 
banana. In this respect it resembles the potato; 
and the roots are ripe in seven or eight months after 
the slips have been planted. 

The same region produces maize, the cultivation 
of which is more extensive than that of the banana 
and manioc. Advancing towards the central plains, 
we meet with fields of this important plant all the 
way from the coast to the valley of Tolucca, which 
is upwards of 9186 feet above the sea. Although 
a great quantity of other grain is produced in Mexi- 
co, this must be considered as the principal food of 
the people, as well as of most of the domestic ani- 
mals, and the year in which the maize-harvest fails 
is one of famine and misery to the inhabitants. 
There is no longer a doubt among botanists that 
this plant is of American origin, and that the Old 
Continent received it from the New. 

It does not thrive in Europe where the mean 



380 CULTIVATION OF MAIZE. 

temperature is less than 44° or 46°; and on the 
cordilleras of New Spain rye and barley are seen to 
vegetate vigorously where the cultivation of maize 
would not be attended with success. On the other 
hand; the latter thrives in the lowest plains of the 
torrid zone, where wheat, barley,, and rye, are not 
found. Hence we cannot be surprised to hear that 
it occupies a much greater extent in equinoctial 
America than the grains of the Old Continent. 

The fecundity of the Mexican variety is astonish- 
ing. Fertile lands usually afford a return of 300 or 
400 fold, and in the neighbourhood of Valladolid a 
harvest is considered defective when it yields only 
130 or 150. Even where the soil is most steril the 
produce varies from sixty to eighty. The general 
estimate for the equinoctial region of Mexico may 
be considered as a hundred and fifty. 

Of all the gramina cultivated by man, none is so 
unequal as this in its produce, as it varies in the 
same field according to the season from forty to 
200 or 300 for one. If the harvests are good, the 
agriculturist makes his fortune more rapidly than 
with any other grain ; but frightful dearths some- 
times occur, when the natives are obliged to feed on 
unripe fruit, cactus-berries, and roots. Diseases 
arise in consequence ; and these famines are usually 
attended with a great mortality among the children. 
Fowls, turkeys, and even cattle suffer, so that the tra- 
veller can find neither eggs nor poultry. Scarcities of 
less severity are not uncommon, and are especially 
felt in the mining districts, where the vast numbers 
of mules employed in the process of amalgamation 
annually consume an enormous quantity of maize. 

Numerous varieties of food are derived from this 



MAIZE WHEAT. 381 

plant. The ear is eaten raw or boiled. The grain 
when beaten affords a nutritive bread called arepa, 
and the meal is employed in making soups or gruels, 
which are mixed with sugar, honey, and sometimes 
even pounded potatoes. Many kinds of drink are also 
prepared from it, some resembling beer, others cider. 
In the valley of Tolucca the stalks are squeezed be- 
tween cylinders, and from the fermented juice a spi- 
ritous liquor, called pulque de mahis, is procured. 

In favourable years Mexico yields a much larger 
quantity than is necessary for its own consumption ; 
but as this grain affords less nutritive substance in 
proportion to its bulk than the corn of Europe, and 
as the roads are generally difficult, obstacles are pre- 
sented to its transportation, which, however, will 
diminish when the country is more improved. 

We come now to the cereal plants which have been 
conveyed from the Old to the New Continent. A 
negro slave of Cortes found among the rice, which 
served to maintain the Spanish army, three or four 
particles of wheat, which were sown, we may suppose, 
before the year 1500. A Spanish lady, Maria d'Es- 
cobar, carried a few grains to Lima, and their pro- 
duce was distributed for three years among the new 
colonists, each receiving twenty or thirty seeds. At 
Quito the first European corn was sown near the 
convent of St Francis by Father Jose Rixi, a native 
of Flanders, and the monks still show, as a precious 
relic, the earthen vessel in which the original wheat 
came from Europe. " Why," asks our author, " have 
not men preserved every where the names of those 
who, in place of ravaging the earth, have enriched 
it with plants useful to the human race ?" 

The temperate region appears most favourable to 
the cultivation of the cerealia, or nutritive grasses 



382 CEREAL PLANTS 

known to the ancients, namely, wheat, spelt, barley, 
oats, and rye. In the equinoctial part of Mexico 
they are nowhere grown in plains of which the 
elevation is under 2625 feet ; and on the declivity 
of the cordilleras between Vera Cruz and Acapulco 
they commence at the height of 3937- At Xalapa 
wheat is raised solely for the straw; for there it 
never produces seed, although in Guatimala grain 
ripens at smaller elevations. 

Were the soil of New Spain watered by more fre- 
quent showers, it would be one of the most fertile por- 
tions of the globe. In the equinoctial districts of that 
country there are only two seasons, — the wet, from 
June or July to September or October, and the dry, 
which lasts eight months. The rains, accompanied 
with electrical explosions, commence on the eastern 
coast, and proceed westward, so that they begin fif- 
teen or twenty days sooner at Vera Cruz than on 
the central plains. Sometimes they are seen, mixed 
with sleet and snow, in the elevated parts during No- 
vember,, December, and January, but they last only 
a few days. It is seldom that the inhabitants have 
to complain of humidity, and the excessive drought 
which prevails from June to September compels them 
in many parts to have recourse to artificial irriga- 
tion. In places not watered in this manner, the soil 
yields pasturage only till March or April, after which 
the south wind destroys the grass. This change 
is more felt when the preceding year has been un- 
usually dry, and the wheat suffers greatly in May. 
The rains of June, however, revive the vegetation, 
and the fields immediately resume their verdure. 

In lands carefully cultivated the produce is sur- 
prising, especially in those which are watered. In the 
most fertile part of the table-land between Quere- 



CULTIVATED IN NEW SPAIN. 383 

taro and Leon, the wheat-harvest is 35 and 40 for 1 ; 
and several farms can even reckon on 50 or 60 for 
] . At Cholulo the common return is trom 30 to 40, 
but it frequently exceeds from 70 to 80 for 1. In 
the valley of Mexico maize yields 200, and wheat 
18 or 20. The mean produce of the whole country 
may be stated at 20 or 25 for 1. M. Abad, a ca- 
non of the metropolitan church of Valladolid de 
Mechoacan, took at random from a field of wheat 
forty plants, when he found that each seed had 
produced forty, sixty, and even seventy stalks. The 
number of grains which the ears contained frequent- 
ly exceeded 100 or 120, and the average amount ap- 
peared to be 90. Some even exhibited 160. A few 
of the elevated tracts, however, are covered with a 
kind of clay impenetrable by the roots of herbaceous 
plants, and others are arid and naked, in which the 
cactus and other prickly shrubs alone vegetate. 

The following table exhibits the mean produce 
of the cereal plants in different countries of both 
continents : — 

In France, from 5 to six grains for 1. 

In Hungary, Croatia, ana Sclavonia, from 8 to 10 grains. 

In La Plata, 12 grains. 

In the northern part of Mexico, 17 grains. 

In equinoctial Mexico, 24 grains. 

In the province of Pasto in Santa Fe, 25 grains. 

In the plain of Caxamarca in Peru, 18 to 20 grains. 

The Mexican wheat is of the very best quality, 
and equals the finest Andalusian. At Havannah 
it enters into competition with that of the United 
States, which is considered inferior to it; and when 
greater facilities are afforded for exportation it will 
become of the highest importance to Europe. In 
Mexico grain can hardly be preserved longer than 
two or three years ; but the causes of this decay 
have not been sufficiently investigated. 



384 RYE OATS POTATOES. 

Rye and barley, which resist cold better than 
wheat, are cultivated on the highest regions, but 
only to a small extent. Oats do not answer w r ell in 
New Spain, and are very seldom seen even in the 
mother-country, where the horses are fed on barley. 

The potato appears to have been introduced into 
Mexico nearly at the same period as the cereal grasses 
of the Old Continent. It is certain that it was not 
known there before the arrival of the Spaniards, 
at which epoch it was in use in Chili, Peru, Quito, 
and New Grenada. It is supposed by botanists, 
that it grows spontaneously in-the mountainous re- 
gions; but our author asserts that this opinion is 
erroneous, and that the plant in question is nowhere 
to be found uncultivated in any part of the Cordil- 
leras within the tropics. According to Molina it is 
a native of all the fields of Chili, where another 
species, the Solatium cart, still unknown in Europe, 
and even in Quito and Mexico, is grown ; and M. 
Humboldt seems to consider that country as the ori- 
ginal source of it. It is stated that Sir Walter Ra- 
leigh found it in Virginia in 1584 ; and a question 
arises, whether it arrived there from the north, or 
from Chili, or some other of the Spanish colonies. 
Our traveller seems to consider it not improbable 
that it had been conveyed from some of the Spanish 
colonies by the English themselves. 

The plants cultivated in the highest and coldest 
parts of the Andes and Mexican Cordilleras are po- 
tatoes, the Tropceolum esculentum, and the Cheno- 
podium quinoa. The first of these are an important 
object in the latter country, as they do not require 
much humidity. The Mexicans and Peruvians 
preserve them for a series of years, by destroying 
their power of germinating by exposure to frost, and 



PLANTS WITH NUTRITIVE ROOTS. 385 

afterwards drying them,, — a practice which our au- 
thor thinks might be followed with advantage in 
Europe. He also recommends obtaining the seeds 
of the potatoes cultivated at Quito and Santa Fe, 
which are a foot in diameter, and superior in qua- 
lity to those in the Old Continent. It is unnecessary 
to expatiate on the advantages derived from this in- 
valuable root, the use of which now extends from 
the extremity of Africa to Lapland, and from the 
southern regions of America to Labrador. 

The New World is very rich in plants with nu- 
tritive roots. Next to the manioc and the potato, the 
most important are the oca, the batate, and the ig- 
name. The first of these (Oxalis tuberosd) grows in 
the cold and temperate parts of the Cordilleras. The 
igname (Dioscorea alata) appears proper to all the 
equinoctial regions of the globe. Of the batate (Con- 
volvulus batatas), several varieties are raised. The 
cacomite, a species of Tigridia, the root of which 
yields a nutritive farina; numerous varieties of love- 
apples (Solanum lycopersicum) ; the earth pistachio 
or mani (Arachis hypogcea) ; and different species 
of pimento (Capsicum), are the other useful plants 
cultivated there. 

The Mexicans now have all the culinary vege- 
tables and fruit-trees of Europe ; but it has become 
difficult to determine which of the former they pos- 
sessed before the arrival of the Spaniards. It is 
certain, however, that they had onions, haricots, 
gourds, and several varieties of Cicer ; and in gene- 
ral, if we consider the garden-stuffs of the Aztecs 
and the great number of farinaceous roots cultivat- 
ed in Mexico and Peru, we shall see that they were 
not so poor in alimentary plants as some maintain. 

2a 



386 FRUIT-TREES. 

The central table-land of New Spain produces the 
ordinary fruits of Europe in the greatest abundance ; 
and the traveller is surprised to see the tables of the 
wealthy inhabitants loaded with the vegetable pro- 
ductions of both continents in the most perfect state. 
Before the invasion of the Spaniards, Mexico and 
the Andes presented several fruits having a great 
resemblance to those of Europe. The mountainous 
part of South America has a cherry, a nut, an apple, 
a mulberry, a strawberry, a rasp, and a gooseberry, 
which are peculiar to it. Oranges and citrons, which 
are now cultivated there, appear to have been in- 
troduced, although a small wild orange occurs in 
Cuba and on the coast of Terra Firma. The olive- 
tree answers perfectly in New Spain, but exists only 
in very small numbers. 

Most civilized nations procure their drinks from 
the plants which constitute their principal nourish- 
ment, and of which the roots or seeds contain saccha- 
rine and amylaceous matter. There are few tribes, 
indeed, which cultivate these solely for the purpose 
of preparing beverages from them ; but in the New 
Continent we find a people, who not only extracted 
liquors from the maize, the manioc, and bananas, 
but who raise a shrub of the family of the an- 
anas for the express purpose of converting its juice 
into a spiritous liquor. This plant, the maguey 
{Agave Americana), is extensively reared as far 
as the Aztec language extends. The finest planta- 
tions of it seen by our traveller were in the valley 
of Tolucca and on the plains of Cholula. It yields 
the saccharine juice at the period of inflorescence 
only, the approach of which is anxiously observed. 
Near the latter place, and between Tolucca and 



AGAVE AMERICANA PULQUE. 387 

Cacanumacan, a maguey eight years old gives signs 
of developing its flowers. The bundle of central 
leaves is now cut, the wound is gradually enlarged 
and covered with the foliage,, which is drawn close 
and tied at the top. In this wound the vessels seem 
to deposite the juice that would naturally have gone 
to expand the blossoms. It continues to run two 
or three months, and the Indians draw from it three 
or four times a-day. A very vigorous plant occa- 
sionally yields the quantity of 454 cubic inches a- 
day for four or five months. This is so much the 
more astonishing, that the plantations are usually 
in the most arid and steril ground. In a good soil 
the agave is ready for being cut at the age of five 
years; but in poor land* the harvest cannot be ex- 
pected in less than eighteen. 

This juice or honey has an agreeable acid taste,, 
and easily ferments on account of the sugar and 
mucilage which abound in it. This process, which 
is accelerated by adding a little old pulque, ends in 
three or four days ; and the result is a liquor resem- 
bling cider, but with a very unpleasant smell like 
that of putrid meat. Europeans who can reconcile 
themselves to the scent prefer the pulque to every 
other liquor, and it is considered as stomachic, invi- 
gorating, and nutritive. A very intoxicating brandy, 
called mexical, is also obtained from it, and in some 
districts is manufactured to a great extent. 

The leaves of the agave also supply the place of 
hemp and the papyrus of the Egyptians. The pa- 
per on which the ancient Mexicans painted their 
hieroglyphical figures was made of their fibres, ma- 
cerated and disposed in layers. The prickles which 
terminate them formerly served as pins and nails 



388 WINE SUGAR. 

to the Indians, and the priests pierced their arms and 
breasts with them in their acts of expiation. 

The vine is cultivated in Mexico, but in so small 
a quantity that wine can hardly be considered as a 
product of that country ; but the mountainous parts 
of New Spain, Guatimala, New Grenada, and Ca- 
raccas, are so well adapted for its growth, that at 
some future period they will probably supply the 
whole of North America. 

Of colonial commodities, or productions which 
furnish raw materials for the commerce and manufac- 
turing industry of Europe, New Spain affords most 
of those procured from the West Indies. The cul- 
tivation of the sugar-cane has of late years been car- 
ried to such an extent, that the exportation of sugar 
from Vera Cruz amounts to more than half a million 
of arrobas, or 12,680,000 lb. avoird. ; which, at 3 
piasters the arroba, are equal to 5,925,000 francs, 
or £246,875 sterling. It was conveyed by the Spa- 
niards from the Canary Islands into St Domingo 9 
from whence it was subsequently carried into Cuba 
and the province just named. Although the mean 
temperature best suited to it is 75° or 77°> it may 
yet be successfully reared in places of which the an- 
nual warmth does not exceed 66° or 68° ; and as on 
great table-lands the heat is increased by the rever- 
beration of the earth, it is cultivated in Mexico to 
the height of 4921 feet, and in favourable exposures 
thrives even at an elevation of 6562. The greatest 
part of the sugar produced in New Spain is con- 
sumed in the country, and the exportation is very 
insignificant compared with that of Cuba, Jamaica, 
or St Domingo. 

Cotton, flax, and hemp, are not extensively raised, 



COLONIAL COMMODITIES. 389 

and very little coffee is used in the country. Cocoa, 
vanilla, jalap, and tobacco, are cultivated; but of 
the latter there is a considerable importation from 
Havannah. Indigo is not produced in sufficient 
quantity for home consumption. 

Since the middle of the sixteenth century, oxen, 
horses, sheep, and hogs, introduced by the conquer- 
ors, have multiplied surprisingly in all parts of New 
Spain, and more especially in the vast savannahs of 
the provincias internets. The exportation of hides 
is considerable, as is that of horses and mules. 

Our common poultry have only of late years be- 
gun to thrive in Mexico ; but there is a great va- 
riety of native gallinaceous birds in that country, 
such as the turkey, the hocco or curassow (Crax 
nigra, C. globicera, C. panxi), penelopes, and phea- 
sants. The Guinea fowl and common duck are also 
reared ; but the goose is nowhere to be seen in the 
Spanish colonies. 

The cultivation of the silkworm has never been ex- 
tensively tried, although many parts of that continent 
seem favourable to it. An enormous quantity of 
wax is consumed in the festivals of the church ; and, 
notwithstanding that a large proportion is collected 
in the country, much is imported from Havannah. 
Cochineal is obtained to a considerable amount. 

Although pearls were formerly found in great 
abundance in various parts of America, the fisheries 
have now almost entirely ceased. The western 
coast of Mexico abounds in cachalots or spermaceti- 
whales (Physter macrocephalus) ; but the natives 
have hitherto left the pursuit of these animals to 
Europeans. 



390 METALS OF THE ANCIENT MEXICANS. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Mines of New Spain. 

Mining Districts — Metalliferous Veins and Beds — Geological Re- 
lations of the Ores — Produce of the Mines — Recapitulation. 

The mines of Mexico have of late years engaged 
the attention and excited the enterprise of the 
English in a more than ordinary degree. The sub- 
ject is therefore one of much interest ; but as later 
information may be obtained in several works, and 
especially in Ward's " Mexico in 1827/' it is un- 
necessary to follow our author in all his details. 

Long before the voyage of Columbus, the na- 
tives of Mexico were acquainted with the uses of 
several metals, and had made considerable profi- 
ciency in the various operations necessary for ob- 
taining them in a pure state. Cortes, in the his- 
torical account of his expedition, states that gold, 
silver, copper, lead, and tin, were publicly sold in 
the great market of Tenochtitlan. In all the large 
towns of Anahuac gold and silver vessels were 
manufactured, and the foreigners, on their first ad- 
vance to Tenochtitlan, could not refrain from admir- 
ing the ingenuity of the Mexican goldsmiths. The 
Aztec tribes extracted lead and tin from the veins of 
Tlacheo, and obtained cinnabar from the mines of 
Chilapan. From copper, found in the mountains 
of Zacotollan and Cohuixco, they manufactured 



MINING DISTRICTS. 



391 



their arms, axes, chisels, and other implements. 
With the use of iron they seem to have been un- 
acquainted ; but they contrived to give the requisite 
hardness to their tools by mixing a portion of tin 
with the copper of which they were composed. 

At the period when Humboldt visited New Spain, 
it contained nearly 500 places celebrated for the me- 
tallic treasures in their vicinity, and comprehending 
nearly 3000 mines. These were divided into 37 
districts, under the direction of an equal number of 
councils {Diputaciones de mineria), as follows : — 



I. IXTEXDAXCY OF GUAXAXUATO. 
1. Mining District of Guanaxuato. 



II. IXTEXDAXCY OF ZACATECAS. 



2. Zacatecas. 

3. Sombrerete. 



4. Fresnillo. 

5. Sierra de Pinos. 



III. IXTEXDAXCY OF SAX LUIS POTOSI. 



6. Catorce. 

7. Potosi. 

8. Charcas. 



9. Ojocaliente. 
10. San Nicolas de Croix. 



11. Pachuca. 

12. El Doctor. 

13. Zuriapan. 

14. Tasco. 



IV. IXTEXDAXCY OF MEXICO. 

15. Zacualpan. 

16. Sultepec. 
17- Temastaltepec. 



V. IXTEXDAXCY OF GUADALAXARA. 

18. Bolanos. | 20. Hostotipaquillo. 

19. Asientos de Ibarra. 



VI. IXTEXDAXCY OF DTTBAXGO. 



21. Chihuahua. 

22. Parral. 

23. Guarisamey. 



24. Cosiguiriachi. 

25. Batopilas. 



VII. IXTEXDAXCY OF SOXORA. 



26. Alamos. 

27. Copala. 

28. Cosala. 

29. San Francisco "Savier de la 

Huerta. 



30. Guadalupe de la Puerta. 

31. Santissima Trinidad de Pe- 

na Blanca. 

32. San Francisco Xavier de 

Alisos. 



392 METALLIFEROUS DEPOSITES. 

VIII. INTENDAXCY OF VALLADOLID. 

33. Angangueo. I 35. Zitaquaro. 

34. Inguaran. j 36. Tlalpajahua. 

IX. INTENDANCY OF OAXACA. 

37. Oaxaca. 

X. IXTENDANCY OF PUEBLA. 

Several Mines. 

XI. INTENDANCY OF VERA CRUZ. 

Three Mines. 

XII. OLD CALIFORNIA. f 

One Mine. 

In the present state of the country the veins are 
the most productive,, and the minerals disposed in 
beds or masses are very rare. The former are chiefly 
in primitive or transition rocks,, rarely in secondary 
deposites. In the Old Continent granite,, gneiss, and 
mica-slate, form the central ridges of the mountain- 
chains; but in the cordilleras of America these 
rocks seldom appear externally, being covered by 
masses of porphyry, greenstone, amygdaloid, basalt, 
and other trap-formations. The coast of Acapulco is 
composed of granite ; and as we ascend towards the 
table-land of Mexico, we see it pierce the porphyry 
for the last time between Zumpango and Sopilote. 
Farther to the east, in the province of Oaxaca, gra- 
nite and gneiss are visible in the high plains which 
are of great extent, traversed by veins of gold. 

Tin has not yet been observed in the granites of 
Mexico. In the mines of Comarya syenite contains 
a seam of silver ; while the vein of Guanaxuato, the 
richest in America, crosses a primitive clay-slate 
passing into talc-slate. The porphyries of Mexico 
are for ' the most part eminently rich in gold and 
silver. They are all characterized by the presence 
of hornblende and the absence of quartz. Common 



METALLIFEROUS DEPOSITES. 393 

felspar is of rare occurrence, but the glassy variety 
is frequently observed in them. The rich gold mine 
of Villalpando, near Guanaxuato, traverses a por- 
phyry, of which the basis is allied to clinkstone, and 
in which hornblende is extremely rare. The veins 
of Zuriapan intersect porphyries, having a green- 
stone basis, and contain a great variety of interesting 
minerals, such as fibrous zeolite, stilbite, grammatite, 
pycnite, native sulphur, fluor, barytes, corky asbes- 
tus, green garnets, carbonate and chromate of lead, 
orpiment, chrysoprase, and fire-opal. 

Among the transition rocks, containing ores of 
silver, may be mentioned the limestone of the Real 
del Cardonal, Xacala, and Lomo del Toro, to the 
north of Zuriapan. In Mexico graywacke is also 
rich in metals. 

The silver-mines of* the Real de Catorce, as w r ell 
as those of El Doctor and Xaschi, near Zuriapan, 
traverse Alpine limestone, which rests on a conglo- 
merate with siliceous cement. In that and the 
Jura limestone are contained the celebrated silver- 
mines of Tasco and Tehuilotepec, in the intendancy 
of Mexico ; and in these calcareous rocks the me- 
talliferous veins display the greatest wealth. 

It thus appears that the cordilleras of Mexico 
contain veins in a great variety of rocks, and that 
the deposites w r hich furnish almost all the silver ex- 
ported from Vera Cruz are primitive slate, gray- 
wacke, and Alpine limestone. The mines of Potosi 
in Buenos Ayres are contained in primitive clay- 
slate, and the richest of those of Peru in Alpine lime- 
stone. Our author here observes, that there is scarce- 
ly a variety of rock which has not in some country 
been found to contain metals, and that the richness 



394 MINES OF MEXICO. 

of the veins is for the most part totally independent 
of the nature of the beds which they intersect. 

Great advantage is derived in working the Mexi- 
can mines,, from the circumstance that the most 
important of them are situated in temperate regions 
where the climate is favourable to agriculture. 
Guanaxuatois placed in a ravine, the bottom of which 
is somewhat lower than the level of the lakes of the 
valley of Mexico. Zacatecas and the Real de Catorce 
are a little higher; but the mildness of the air at 
these towns, which are surrounded by the richest 
mines in the world, is a contrast to the cold and dis- 
agreeable atmosphere of the Peruvian districts. 

The produce of the Mexican mines is very un- 
equally apportioned. The 2,500,000 marks, or 
1,541,015 troy pounds of silver annually exported 
to Europe and Asia from Vera Cruz and Acapulco, 
are drawn from a very smal] number. Guanaxuato, 
Zacatecas, and Catorce, supply more than the half ; 
and the vein of Guanaxuato alone yields more than 
a fourth part of the whole silver of Mexico, and a 
sixth of the produce of all America. The following 
is the order in which the richest mines of New Spain 
are placed, with reference to the quantity obtained 
from them : — 

Guanaxuato, in the intendancy of the same name. 
Catorce, in the intendancy of San Luis Potosi. 
Zacatecas, in the intendancy of the same name. 
Real del Monte, in the intendancy of Mexico. 
Bolanos, in the intendancy of Guadalaxara. 
Guarisamey, in the intendancy of Durango. 
Sombrerete, in the intendancy of Zacatecas. 
Tasco, in the intendancy of Mexico. 
Batopilas, in the intendancy of Durango. 
Zuriapan, in the intendancy of Mexico. 
Fresnillo, in the intendancy of Zacatecas. 
Ramos, in the intendancy of San Luis Potosi. 
Parral, in the intendancy of Durango. 



PRODUCE OF SILVER. 395 

The veins of Tasco, Sultepec, Tlapujahua, and 
Pachuca, were first wrought by the Spaniards. 
Those of Zacatecas were next commenced, and that 
of San Barnabe was begun in 1548. The prin- 
cipal one in Guanaxuato was discovered in 1558. 
As the total produce of all in Mexico, until the 
beginning of the eighteenth century, never exceed- 
ed 369,844 troy pounds of gold and silver yearly, 
it must be concluded, that during the sixteenth 
little energy was employed in drawing forth their 
stores. 

The silver extracted in the thirty-seven districts 
was deposited in the provincial treasuries estab- 
lished in the chief places of the intendancies ; and 
from the reports of these offices the quantity fur- 
nished by the different parts of the country may be 
determined. The following is an account of the 
receipts of eleven of these boards from the year 
1785 to 1789:— 

Marks of Silver. 

Guanaxuato, 2,469,000 

San Luis Potosi,.. 1,515,000 

Zacatecas, 1,205,000 

Mexico, 1,055,000 

Durango, 922,000 

Rosario, 668,000 

Guadalaxara, 509,000 

Pachuca, 455,000 

Bolanos, 364,000 

Sombrerete, 320,000 

Zuriapan, 248,000 

Sum for five years, 9,730,000=5,997,633 troy pounds. 

The mean produce of the mines of New Spain, 
including the northern part of New Biscay and those 
of Oaxaca, is estimated at above 1,541,015 troy 
pounds of silver, — a quantity equal to two-thirds 
of what is annually extracted from the whole globe, 



396 PRODUCE OF GOLD. 

and ten times as much as is furnished by all the 
mines of Europe. 

On the other hand the produce of the Mexican 
mines in gold is not much greater than those of 
Hungary and Transylvania; amounting in ordinary 
years only to 4315 troy pounds. In the former it is 
chiefly extracted from river-deposites by washing. 
Auriferous alluvia are common in the province of 
Sonora, and a great deal of gold has been collected 
among the sands with which the bottom of the val- 
ley of the Rio Hiaqui, to the east of the missions of 
Tarahumara, is covered. Farther to the norths in 
Pimeria Alta, masses of native gold weighing five 
or six pounds have been found. Part of it is also 
extracted from veins intersecting the primitive 
mountains. Veins of this metal are most frequent 
in the province of Oaxaca, in gneiss and mica-slate. 
The last rock is particularly rich in the mines of Rio 
San Antonio. Gold is also found pure, or mixed 
with silver-ore, in most of those which have been 
wrought in Mexico. 

The silver supplied by the Mexican veins is ex- 
tracted from a great variety of minerals. Most of it 
is obtained from sulphuretted silver, arsenical gray- 
copper, muriate of silver, prismatic black silver-ore, 
and red silver-ore. Pure or native silver is of com- 
paratively rare occurrence. 

Copper, tin, iron, lead, and mercury, are also pro- 
cured in New Spain, but in very small quantities, 
although it would appear that they might be found 
to a great extent. The mercury occurs in various de- 
posites, in beds, in secondary formations, and in veins 
traversing porphyries ; but the amount obtained has 
never been sufficient for the process of amalgamation. 



GOLD AND SILVER OF AMERICA. 397 

The total value of gold and silver extracted from 
the mines of America, between 1499 and 1803, is 
estimated by Humboldt at 5,706,700,000 piasters, or 
(valuing the piaster at 4s. 4±d.) £1,248,340,625 
sterling. 

The annual produce of the mines of the New 
World, at the beginning of the present century, is 
estimated as follows : — 

Gold Silver Value in 

Marks. Marks. Dollars. 

New Spain, 7,000 2,338,220 23,000,000 

Peru, 3,400 611,090 6,240,000 

Chili, 12,212 29,700 2,060,000 

Buenos Avres, 2.200 481,830 4,850,000 

New Grenada, 20.505 . . . 2,990,000 

Brazil, 29,900 . . . 4,360,000 

75,217 3,460,840 43,500,000 

Valuing the dollar at 4s. 3d., the total annual pro- 
duce would be £9,243,750.* 

* According to Mr Ward (Mexico in 1827, vol. ii. p. 38), the 
annual average produce of the Mexican mines, before the revolution 
in 1810, amounted to 24,000,000 dollars, or £5,250,000, and the 
average exports to 22,000,000, or £4,812,500 ; but since the revo- 
lution the produce has been reduced to 11,000,000 dollars, or 
£2,406,250, while the exports in specie have averaged 13,587,052 
dollars, or £2,970,198 each year. This reduction, it is unnecessary 
to say, has been caused by the unsettled state of the country, the 
emigration of the Old Spaniards, and the withdrawing of the funds 
which kept the mines in operation. In 1812, according to the same 
authority, the coinage had fallen to four and a half millions of dol- 
lars. It rose successively to six, nine, eleven, and twelve millions, 
which was the amount in 1819 in the capital alone. In 1820, the 
revolution in Spain caused a considerable fluctuation, and the coin- 
age fell to 10,406,154 dollars. In 1821, when the separation from 
the mother-country became inevitable, the coinage sunk to five 
millions ; from which it fell to three and a half, and continued in 
that state during 1823 and 1824. In 1825, the foreign capitals in- 
vested began to produce some effect ; but in 1826, the total amount 
of coinage in the five mints of the Mexican republic did not exceed 
7,463,300_dollars, or £1,632,594. 

In 1827, seven English companies, one German, and two Ame- 
rican, were employed in working mines in different parts of Mexico. 

ENGLISH COMPANIES. 

1. The Real del Monte Company, Captain Vetch, director, with 
an invested capital of £400,000. 

2 



398 RECAPITULATION. 

To conclude our brief account of Humboldt's Po- 
litical Essay on New Spain, it may be useful to pre- 
sent a few of the more interesting facts in the form 
of a recapitulation. 

Physical Aspect. — Along the centre of the coun- 
try runs a chain of mountains, having a direction 
from south-east to north-west, and afterwards from 
south to north. On the ridge or summit of this 
chain are extended vast table-lands or platforms, 
which gradually decline towards the temperate zone, 
their absolute height within the tropics being from 
7545 to 7873 feet. The declivities of the cordilleras 
are w r ooded, while the central table-land is usually 
bare. In the equinoctial region the different climates 
rise as it were one above another from the shore, 
where the mean temperature is about 78°, to the 
central plains, where it is about 62°. 

Population. — The whole population is estimated 
at 5,840,000, of which 4,500,000 are Indians, 
1,000,000 Creoles, and 70,000 European Spaniards. 



2. The Bolanos Company, Captains Vetch and Lvon, directors, 
with a capital of £150,000. 

3. Tlalpujahua Company, Mr De Rivafinola, director, with a ca- 
pital of £180,000. 

4. Anglo-Mexican Company, Mr Williamson, director ; capital 
£800,000. 

5. United Mexican Company ; directors, Don Lncas Alaman, 
Mr Glennie, and Mr Agassis ; capital £800,000. 

6. The Mexican Company. 

7- Catorce Company, Mr Stokes, director ; invested capital not 
above £60,000. 

At this period nearly three millions sterling of British capital 
were invested in the Mexican mines, or had been expended in en- 
terprises immediately connected with them. The sudden change 
of reeling with respect to these adventures, which took place in 
England in 1820, had nearly put a stop to the operations com- 
menced with so much energy ; but confidence having been in some 
measure restored, it may be hoped that the mining companies will 
yet prove of great advantage both to Britain and to Mexico. 



RECAPITULATION. 399 

Agriculture. — The banana,, manioc, maize, wheat, 
and potatoes, constitute the principal food of the 
people. The maguey or agave may be considered 
as the Indian vine. Sugar, cotton, vanilla, cocoa, 
indigo, tobacco, wax, and cochineal, are plentifully 
produced. Cattle are abundant on the great savan- 
nahs in the interior. 

Mines. — The annual produce in gold is 4289 lb. 
troy; in silver, 1,439,8321b. ; in all, 23,000,000 of 
piasters (£5,031,250), or nearly half the quantity 
annually extracted from the mines of America. 
The mint of Mexico furnished from 1690 to 1803 
more than 1,353,000,000 piasters (£295,968,750), 
and from the discovery of New Spain to the com- 
mencement of the nineteenth centurv, probably 
2,028,000,000 piasters (£443,625,000). Three 
mining districts, Guanaxuato, Zacatecas, and Ca- 
torce, yield nearly half of all the gold and silver of 
New Spain. 

Manufactures. — The value of the produce of the 
manufacturing industry of New Spain is estimated 
at 7,000,000 or 8,000,000 of piasters (valuing the 
piaster of exchange at 3s. 3±d., £1,152,083 to 
£1,316,667). Cotton and woollen cloths, cigars, 
soda, soap, gunpowder, and leather, are the prin- 
cipal articles manufactured. 

It is scarcely necessary to add, that the regions of 
America, which at the time of Humboldt's visit 
were Spanish colonies, have, after a series of san- 
guinary struggles, excited by the real or imagined 
grievances under which the inhabitants laboured, 
now succeeded in acquiring independence. This 
condition is more suitable than subjection to a re- 
mote power, protracted beyond the period at which 



400 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

such settlements are themselves fit to become em- 
pires. With colonies it is in some degree as with 
children. They receive the protection necessary for 
their growth, and obey at first from weakness and 
attachment ; but beyond the stage at which they ac- 
quire a right to think for themselves, the attempt to 
perpetuate subordination necessarily excites a hatred 
which effectually quenches the feeble gratitude that 
man, in any condition, is capable of cherishing. The 
political divisions of America, — the land of repub- 
lican principles, — are foreign to our object, and 
would require a more particular description than 
they could receive in this volume. 



VOYAGE TO EUROPE. 401 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Passage from Vera Cruz to Cuba and Philadelphia, 
and Voyage to Europe. 

Departure from Mexico — Passage to Havannah and Philadelphia 
— Return to Europe — Results of the Journeys in America. 

Leaving the capital of New Spain our travellers 
descended to the port of Vera Cruz, which is situ- 
ated among sand-hills, in a burning and unhealthy 
climate. They happily escaped the yellow- fever, — 
which prevails there and attacks persons who have 
arrived from the elevated districts as readily as Eu- 
ropeans who have come by sea, — and embarked in a 
Spanish frigate for Havannah, where they had left 
part of their specimens. They remained there two 
months; after which they set sail for the United 
States, on their passage to which they encountered 
a violent storm that lasted seven days. Arriving 
at Philadelphia, and afterwards visiting Washing- 
ton, they spent eight weeks in that interesting coun- 
try, for the purpose of studying its political consti- 
tution and commercial relations. In August 1804 
they returned to Europe, carrying with them the 
extensive collections which they had made during 
their perilous and fatiguing journeys. 

The results of this expedition, conducted with so 
much courage and zeal, have been of the highest 

2b 



402 RESULTS OF THE JOURNEYS 

importance to science. With respect to natural his- 
tory, it may be stated generally, that the mass of in- 
formation already laid before the public, as obtained 
from the observation of six years, exceeds any thing 
that had been presented by the most successful cul- 
tivators of the same field during a whole lifetime. 
Much light has been thrown on the migrations and 
relations of the indigenous tribes of America, their 
origin, languages, and manners. The Vues des 
Cordillieres et Monumens des Peuples indigenes de 
I'Amerique, 2 vols, folio, published in 1811, con- 
tains the fruit of researches into the antiquities of 
Mexico and Peru, together with the description of 
the more remarkable scenes of the Andes. It has 
been translated into English by Mrs H. M. Wil- 
liams. The animals observed have been described 
in a work entitled Recueil d' Observations de Zoo- 
logie et d' Anatomie Comparees, faites dans an 
Voyage aux Tropiques, 2 vols. 4to. 

In the department of botany the most important 
additions have been made to science. Our travel- 
lers brought with them to Europe an herbarium 
consisting of more than 6000 species of plants, and 
Bonpland's botanical journal contained descriptions 
of four thousand. The valuable works on this sub- 
ject, that have appeared in consequence of the jour- 
ney to America, form a new era in the history of 
botany. They are as follow : — 

1 . Essai sur la Geographie des Plantes, ou Ta- 
bleau Physique des Regions Equinoxiales, fonde 
sur des Observations et des Mesures faites depuis 
le lOme degre de latitude australe, jusqau lOme 
degre de latitude boreale. 4to. 

2. Plantes Equinoxiales Recueillies au Mexique, 



IN AMERICA. 403 

dans Vile de Cuba, dans les Provinces de Cara- 
cas, de Cumana, &c. 2 vols. fol. 

3. Monographic des Melastomes. 2 vols. fol. 

4. Nova Genera et Species Plantarum. 3 vols. fol. 

5. De Distributions Geographica Plantarum se- 
cundum Cceli Temperiem et Altitudinem Montium 
prolegomena. 8vo. 

The Essay on the Geography of Plants presents 
a general view of the vegetation, zoology, geological 
constitution, and other circumstances, of the equi- 
noctial region of the New Continent, from the level 
of the sea to the highest summits of the Andes. 
The second work is by M. Bonpland, and contains 
methodical descriptions, in Latin and French, of 
the species observed ; together with remarks on their 
medicinal properties and their uses in the arts. 
The Monography of the Melastomae, which is also 
from the pen of M. Bonpland, contains upwards of 
150 species of these plants, with others collected by 
M. Richard in the West Indies and French Guiana. 

In his Essai Geognostique sur le Gisement des 
Roches dans les deux Hemispheres, published in 
1826, and translated into English, Humboldt pre- 
sents a table of all the formations known to geolo- 
gists, and institutes a comparison between the rocks 
of the Old Continent and those of the cordillera of 
the Andes. 

The astronomical treatises have been published 
in two quarto volumes, under the title of Eecueil 
d' Observations Astronomiques et de Mesures exe- 
cutees dans le Nouveau Continent. This work con- 
tains the original observations made between thel2th 
degree of south latitude and the 41st degree of north 
latitude, transits of the sun and stars over the meri- 



404 RESULTS OF THE JOURNEYS 

dian, occultations of satellites, eclipses, &c. ; a trea- 
tise on astronomical refractions under the torrid 
zone, considered as the effect of the decrement of 
caloric in the strata of the atmosphere ; the baro- 
metric measurement of the Andes of Mexico, Vene- 
zuela, Quito, and New Grenada ; together with a 
table of nearly 700 geographical positions. The 
greatest pains have been taken to verify the calcu- 
lations. Our author presented to the Bureau des 
Longitudes his astronomical observations on the lu- 
nar distances and the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites, 
together with the barometrical elevations, which 
have been calculated and verified by M. Prony ac- 
cording to the formulae of La Place. 

In 181 7 Humboldt laid before the Academie des 
Sciences his map of the Orinoco, exhibiting the 
junction of that river with the Amazon by means 
of the Casiquiare and Rio Negro. 

The brief account of New Spain, which is pre- 
sented in the preceding pages, has been extracted 
from the Essai Politique sur la Nouvelle Espagne, 
originally published in 2 vols. 4to, and translated 
into English. With respect to Humboldt's trans- 
lators it may be remarked, that their want of scien- 
tific knowledge, and more especially of natural his- 
tory, renders the English very much inferior to the 
French editions. 

Most of the above-mentioned publications have ap- 
peared in the names of both travellers. The various 
works relating to the journey will make, when com- 
plete, twelve volumes in quarto, three in folio, two 
collections of geographical designs, and one of pic- 
turesque views. The detailed narrative of the expe- 
dition occupies four of these volumes; but an octavo 



IN AMERICA. 405 

edition has also been published under the title of 
Voyage aux Regions Equinoxiales du Nouveau 
Continent, pendant les annees 1799,, 1800,, 1801, 
1802, 1803, et 1804. The translation of this work 
by Mrs Williams is familiar to the English reader. 

The labour necessary for reducing the observa- 
tions made by our travellers to a condition fit for 
the public eye must have been very great ; yet, pos- 
sessed of a mind not less characterized by activity 
than the vastness of its acquirements, Humboldt in 
the mean while engaged in various investigations, 
which he has partly published in the foreign jour- 
nals. In concert with M. Gay Lussac, with whom 
he lived for several years in the most intimate 
friendship, he has made numerous magnetic ex- 
periments, and verified Biot's theory respecting the 
position of the magnetic equator. They have found 
that the great mountain-chains, and even the active 
volcanoes, have no appreciable influence on the mag- 
netic power ; and have established the fact, that it 
gradually diminishes as we recede from the equator. 

On the return of the philosophers from America, 
Bonpland was appointed by Bonaparte to the office 
of superintending the gardens at Malmaison, where 
the Empress Josephine, who was passionately fond 
of flowers, had formed a splendid collection of exo- 
tics. His amiable disposition, not less than his ac- 
quirements, procured for him the esteem of all who 
knew him. In 1818 he went to Buenos Ayres as 
Professor of Natural History. In 1820 he under- 
took an excursion to the interior of Paraguay ; but 
when he arrived at St Anne on the eastern bank 
of the Parana, where he had established a colony 
of Indians, he was unexpectedly surrounded by a 



406 bonpland's captivity. 

large body of soldiers,, who destroyed the plantation 
and carried him off a prisoner. This was done by 
the orders of Dr Francia the ruler of Paraguay ; 
and the only reason assigned was his having planted 
the tea-tree peculiar to that country, and which 
forms a valuable article of exportation. He was con- 
fined chiefly in Santa Martha, but was allowed to 
practise as a physician. Humboldt applied in vain 
for the liberation of his friend, for whom he appears 
to have cherished a sincere affection. According to 
a late report, however, he has obtained his liberty, 
and returned to Buenos Ayres. 

In October 1818 our author was in London, 
where it was said that the allied powers had re- 
quested him to draw up a political view of the 
South American colonies. In November of the same 
year the King of Prussia granted him an annual 
pension of 12,000 dollars, with the view of facilita- 
ting the execution of a plan which he had formed 
of visiting Asia, and especially the mountains of 
Thibet. In the year 1822 he accompanied his ma- 
jesty to the congress of Verona, and afterwards visit- 
ed Venice, Rome, and Naples; and, in 1827 and 
1828, delivered at Berlin a course of lectures on the 
physical constitution of the globe, which was attend- 
ed by the royal family and the court. But, except- 
ing the results of his investigations, which have 
appeared at intervals, we have no particular account 
of his occupations until 1829, when he undertook 
another important journey to the Uralian Moun- 
tains, the frontiers of China, and the Caspian Sea. 



ASIATIC JOURNEY. 407 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
Journey to Asia, 

Brief Account of Humboldt's Journey to Asia, with a Sketch of the 
Four great Chains of Mountains which intersect the Central Part 
of that Continent. 

No detailed narrative has yet been published of 
Humboldt's journey to Asiatic Russia ; and the only 
sources of authentic information on the subject are 
to be found in a work lately printed at Paris, un- 
der the title of Fragmens de Geologie et de Clima- 
tologie Asiatiques, par A, de Humboldt \ from which 
the following particulars are extracted: — 

This illustrious traveller, accompanied by MM. 
Ehrenberg and Gustavus Rose, embarked at Nijnei- 
Novgorod on the Volga, and descended to Kasan 
and the Tartar ruins of Bolgari. From thence he 
went by Perm to Jekatherinenburg on the Asiatic 
side of the Uralian Mountains, — a vast chain com- 
posed of several ranges running nearly parallel to 
each other, of which the highest summits scarcely 
attain an elevation of 4593 or 4920 feet, but which, 
like the Andes, follows the direction of a meridian, 
from the tertiary deposites in the neighbourhood of 
Lake Aral to the greenstone rocks in the vicinity of 
the Frozen Sea. A month was occupied in visiting 
the central and northern parts of these mountains, 
which abound in alluvial beds containing gold and 
platina, the malachite mines of Goumeschevskoi, 
the great magnetic ridge of Blagodad, and the 



408 ASIATIC JOURNEY. 

celebrated deposites at Mourzinsk, in which topaz 
and beryl are found. Near Nijnei-Tagilsk, a coun- 
try which may be compared to Choco in South Ame- 
rica,, a mass of platiha weighing about 214 pounds 
troy has been found. 

From Jekatherinenburg the travellers proceeded 
by Tioumen to Tobolsk on the Irtisch, and from thence 
by Tara, a steppe or desert of Baraba, which is dread- 
ed on account of the torments caused by the multi- 
tudes of insects belonging to the family of Tipulce, to 
Barnaoul on the banks of the Ob ; the picturesque 
lake of Kolyvan; and the rich silver-mines of 
Schlangenberg, Riddersk, and Zyrianovski, situated 
on the south- western declivity of the Altaic range,, 
the highest summit of which is scarcely so elevated 
as the Peak of Teneriflfe. The mines of Kolyvan 
produce annually upwards of 49,842 troy pounds. 

Proceeding southward from Riddersk to O Ust- 
Kamenogorsk, they passed through Boukhtarminsk 
to the frontier of Chinese Zungaria. They even ob- 
tained permission to cross the frontier, in order to 
visit the Mongol post of Bates, or Khonimailakhou, 
northward of the Lake Dzaisang. Returning from 
this place to Oust-Kamenogorsk, they found the gra- 
nite divided into nearly horizontal beds and overly- 
ing a slate-formation, the strata of which were partly 
inclined at an angle of 85° and partly vertical. 

From Oust-Kamenogorsk they went along the 
steppe of the Middle Horde of the Kirghiz, by Semi- 
polatinsk and Onisk and the lines of the Ichim Cos- 
sacks and Tobol, to reach the southern part of the 
Ural, where, in the vicinity of Miask, in a deposite 
of very small extent and at a depth of a few inches, 
were found three masses of native gold, two of which 
weighed 18*36 and the other 28'36 pounds troy. 



ASIATIC JOURNEY. 409 

They next proceeded along the Southern Ural to 
the fine quarries of green jasper at Orsk, where the 
river Jaik crosses the chain from east to west. From 
thence they passed by Souberlinsk to Orenburg, which 
notwithstanding its distance from the Caspian Sea is 
below the level of the ocean, and then visited the 
famous salt-mine of Iletzki, situated in the steppe of 
the Little Kirghiz Horde. They afterwards inspect- 
ed the principal place of the Ouralsk Cossacks ; the 
German colonies of the Saratov government on the 
left bank of the Volga ; the great salt lake of Elton 
in the steppe of the Kalmucks ; and a fine colony of 
Moravians at Sarepta ; and, finally, arrived at As- 
tracan. The principal objects of this excursion to the 
Caspian Sea were, the chemical analysis of its wa- 
ters, which Mr Rose intended to make ; the observa- 
tion of the barometrical heights ; and the collection 
of fishes for the great work of Baron Cuvier and M. 
Valenciennes. 

From Astracan, the travellers returned to Mos- 
cow, by the isthmus which separates the Don and 
the Volga, near Tichinskaya, and the country of the 
Don Cossacks. 

Of the heterogeneous materials composing the 
Fragmens Asiatiques, part only of which is from 
the pen of Humboldt, the memoir on the mountain- 
chains and volcanoes in the interior of Asia is the only 
one which can add any interest to our pages ; the 
rest being of a character too strictly scientific. Of 
this paper a brief account is here given. 

In our present state of knowledge volcanic phe- 
nomena are not to be considered as relating pecu- 
liarly to the science of geology, but rather as a de- 
partment of general physics. When in action they 
appear to result from a permanent communication 



410 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 

between the interior of the globe, which is in a state 
of fusion, and the atmosphere which envelopes the 
hardened and oxidated crust of our planet. Masses 
of lava issue like intermittent springs ; and the su- 
perposition of their layers which takes place un- 
der our eyes bears a resemblance to that of the an- 
cient crystalline rocks. On the crest of the Cordil- 
leras of the New World, as well as in the south of 
Europe and the western parts of Asia, an intimate 
connexion is manifested between the chemical action 
of volcanoes, properly so called, or those which pro- 
duce rocks, — their form and position permitting the 
escape of earthy substances in a state of fusion, — 
and the mud-volcanoes of South America, Italy, and 
the Caspian Sea, which at one period eject frag- 
ments of rocks, flames, and acid vapours, and at 
another vomit muddy clay, naphtha, and irrespir- 
able gases. There is even an obvious relation be- 
tween the proper volcano and the formation of beds 
of gypsum and anhydrous rock-salt, containing pe- 
troleum, condensed hydrogen, sulphuret of iron, and, 
occasionally, large masses of galena; the origin of 
hot-springs ; the arrangement of metallic deposites ; 
earthquakes, which are ever and anon accompanied 
by chemical phenomena ; and the sometimes sudden, 
and the sometimes very slow elevations of certain 
parts of the earth's surface. 

This intimate connexion between these diversi- 
fied appearances has of late years served to eluci- 
date many problems in geology and physics which 
had previously been considered inexplicable. The 
analogies of observed facts, and the strict investi- 
gation of phenomena of recent occurrence, gradually 
lead us to more probable conjectures as to the events 
of those remote periods which preceded historical 



ON VOLCANIC ACTION. 411 

records. Volcanicity, or the influence which the 
interior of our planet exercises upon its external en- 
velope in the various stages of its refrigeration, on 
account of the unequal aggregation in which its 
component substances occur, is, at the present day, 
in a very diminished condition ; restricted to a small 
number of points ; intermittent ; simplified in its 
chemical effects; producing rocks only around small 
circular apertures, or over longitudinal cracks of 
small extent ; and manifesting its power, at great 
distances, only dynamically, by shaking the crust 
of our planet in linear directions, or in spaces which 
remain the same during a great number of ages. 
Previous to the existence of the human race, the ac- 
tion of the interior of the globe upon the solid crust, 
which was increasing in volume, must have modi- 
fied the temperature of the atmosphere, and ren- 
dered the whole surface capable of giving birth to 
those productions which ought to be considered as 
tropical, since, by the effect of the radiation and 
refrigeration of the exterior, the relations of the 
earth to a central body, the sun, began almost ex- 
clusively to determine the diversity of geographical 
latitudes. 

In those primeval times, also, the elastic fluids, 
the volcanic powers of the interior, more energetic 
perhaps, and with more facility traversing the oxi- 
dated and solidified crust of the globe, filled this 
crust with crevices, and injected it with masses and 
veins of basalt, metallic substances, and other mat- 
ters, introduced after the solidification of the planet 
had been completed. The period of the great geo- 
logical revolutions was that when the communica- 
tions between the fluid interior of the planet and its 
atmosphere were more frequent, acting upon a greater 



412 VOLCANIC AGENCY. 

number of points, and when the tendency to estab- 
lish these communications gave rise, in the line of 
the long crevices, to the cordilleras of the Andes 
and Himmaleh Mountains, the chains of less ele- 
vation, and the ridges whose undulations embellish 
the landscape of our plains. Our author then men- 
tions, as proofs of these protrusions, the sandstone 
formations which extend from the plains of the 
Magdalena and Meta, almost without interruption,, 
over platforms having an elevation varying from 
8950 to 10,232 feet ; and the bones of antediluvian 
animals intermingled on the summit of the Uralian 
chain of northern Asia with transported deposites, 
containing gold, diamonds, and platina. Another 
evidence of this subterranean action of elastic fluids, 
which heave up continents, domes, and mountain- 
chains, displace rocks and the organic remains which 
they contain, and produce eminences and depressions, 
is the great sinking of the ground which occurs in 
the west of Asia, of which the Caspian Sea and the 
Lake Aral form the lowest part (320 and 205 feet 
beneath the level of the ocean), but w r hich extends 
far into the interior of the continent, stretching to 
Saratov and Orenburg on the Jaik, and probably to 
the south-east as far as the lower course of the Si- 
hon (Jaxartes) and the Amou (the Oxus of the 
ancients). This depression of a continental mass 
extending to more than 320 feet below the surface 
of the ocean, he continues, has not hitherto obtained 
the necessary consideration which its importance 
demands, because it was not sufficiently known. 
It appears to him to have an intimate connexion 
with the upheaving of the Caucasian Mountains, 
those of Hindoo-kho, and of the elevated plain of 
Persia, which borders the Caspian Sea and the Ma- 



VOLCANO IN CENTRAL ASIA. 413 

var-ul-Nahar to the south ; and,, perhaps, more to 
the eastward, with the elevation of the great mass of 
land, which is designated by the vague and incor- 
rect name of the central plain of Asia. This con- 
cavity he considers as a crater-country, similar to 
the Hipparchus, Archimedes, and Ptolemy, of the 
moon's surface, which have a diameter of more than 
100 miles, and which may be rather compared with 
Bohemia than with our volcanic cones and craters. 
In the course of the journey which Humboldt 
made in the summer of 1829 with MM. Ehren- 
berg and Rose, he passed in seven weeks over the 
frontiers of Chinese Zungaria, between the forts 
of Oust-Kamenogorsk, and Boukhtarminsk, and 
Khonimailakhou (a Chinese post to the north of 
the Lake Dzaisang), the Cossack line of the Kirghiz 
steppe, and the shores of the Caspian Sea. In the 
important commercial towns of Semipolatinsk, Pe- 
tropalauska, Troitzkaia, Orenburg, and Astracan, 
he obtained from Tartars, Bucharians, and Tach- 
kendis, information respecting the Asiatic regions 
in the vicinity of their native country. At Oren- 
burg, where caravans of several thousand camels 
annually arrive, an enlightened individual, M. de 
Gens, has collected a mass of materials of the high- 
est importance for the geography of Central Asia. 
Among the numerous descriptions of routes com- 
municated by this person, our author found the fol- 
lowing remark : — " In proceeding from Semipola- 
tinsk to Jerkend, when we were arrived at the Lake 
Ala-koul or Ala-dinghiz, a little to the north-east 
of the great Lake Balkachi which receives the wa- 
ters of the Ele, we saw a very high mountain which 
formerly vomited fire. Even now this mountain, 
w T hich rises in the lake like a little island, occasions 



414 



VOLCANO IN CENTRAL ASIA. 



violent storms which incommode the caravans. For 
this reason some sheep are sacrificed to this old 
volcano by those who pass it." 

This account, which was obtained from a Tartar 
who travelled at the commencement of the present 
century, excited a lively interest in our author, more 
especially as it brought to mind the burning vol- 
canoes of the interior of Asia, made known through 
the researches of Abel Remusat and Klaproth in 
Chinese books, and whose great distance from the 
sea has excited so much surprise. Soon after his 
departure from Petersburg he received from M. de 
Klosterman, imperial director of police at Semipo- 
latinsk, the following particulars, which were ob- 
tained from Bucharians and Tachkendis : — 

" The route from Semipolatinsk to Kouldja is 
twenty-five days. It passes by the mountains Ala- 
chan and Rondegatay, in the steppe of the Middle 
Horde of the Kirghiz, the borders of the Lake Sa- 
vande-koul, the Tarbagatai Mountains in Zungaria, 
and the river Emyl. When it has been traversed, 
the road unites with that which leads from Tchou- 
geutchak to the province of Ele. From the banks 
of the Emyl to the Lake Ala-koul the distance is 
39f miles. The Tartars estimate the distance of this 
lake from Semipolatinsk at 301 miles. It is to the 
right of the road, and extends from east to west 
66± miles. In the midst of this lake rises a very 
high mountain, named Aral-toube. From this to 
the Chinese post, situated between the little Lake 
Janalache-koul and the river Baratara, on the banks 
of which reside Kalmucks, are reckoned 36 miles." 

It is evident that the same mountain is alluded 
to in both these accounts ; and with the view of con- 
necting it with the volcanoes discovered by Klaproth 



MOUNTAIN- CHAINS. 



415 



and Abel Remusat mentioned in very ancient Chinese 
books, as existing in the interior of Asia to the north 
and south of Teen-shan, our author presents an ac- 
count of the geography of this interesting region. 

The middle and internal part of Asia, which 
forms neither an immense aggregate of hills nor 
a continuous platform, is intersected from east to 
west by four great systems of mountains, which 
have exercised a decided influence upon the move- 
ments of nations. These systems are: 1. The Al- 
taic, which is terminated to the west by the moun- 
tains of the Kirghiz ; 2. Teen-shan ; 3. Kwan- 
lun ; and, 4. The Himmaleh chain. Between the 
Altaic range and Teen-shan are Zungaria and 
the basin of the Ele; between Teen-shan and 
Kwan-lun, Little or Upper Bucharia, or Cashgar, 
Yarkand, Khoten, or Yu-thian, the great desert, 
Toorfan, Khamil, and Tangout, or the Northern 
Tangout of the Chinese, which must not be con- 
founded with Thibet or Sefan. Lastly, between 
Kwan-lun and the Himmaleh are Eastern and 
Western Thibet, in which are Lassa and Ladak. 
Were the three elevated plains situated between the 
Altai, Teen-shan, Kwan-lun, and the Himmaleh, 
to be indicated by the position of three Alpine lakes, 
we might select for this purpose those of Balkachi, 
Lop, and Tengri, which correspond to the plains of 
Zungaria, Tangout, and Thibet. 

1. System of the Altai. — It surrounds the sources 
of the Irtisch and Jenisei or Rem. To the east it 
takes the name of Tangnou; between the lakes 
Rossogol and Baikal, that of the Sayanian Moun- 
tains; beyond this it takes the name of Upper 
Kentai, and the Davourian Mountains ; and, last- 
ly, to the north-east it connects itself frith the 



416 ALTAIC SYSTEM. 

Jablonnoikhrebet chain, Khingkhan, and the Al- 
dan Mountains, which advance along the Sea of 
Ochotzk. The mean latitude of its prolongation from 
east to west is between 50° and 51° 30'. The Altaic 
range, properly so called, scarcely occupies seven 
degrees of longitude ; but the northern part of the 
mountains, surrounding the great mass of elevated 
land in the interior of Asia, and occupying the space 
comprised between 48° and 51°, is considered as 
belonging to this system, because simple names are 
more easily retained by the memory, and because 
that of Altai is more known to Europeans by its 
great metallic richness, which amounts annually to 
45,907 troy pounds of silver, and 1246 troy pounds 
of gold. The Altaic Mountains are not a chain form- 
ing the boundary of a country like the Himmaleh, 
which limit the elevated plain of Thibet, and have 
a rapid slope only on the side next to India, which 
is lower. The plains in the neighbourhood of the 
Lake Balkachi have not an elevation of more than 
1920 feet above the sea. 

Between the meridians of Oust-Kamenogorsk and 
Semipolatinsk the Altaic system is prolonged, from 
east to west under the parallels of 49 and 50 de- 
grees by a chain of low mountains, over an extent 
of 736 miles, as far as the steppe of the Kirghiz. 
This ridge has been elevated through a fissure 
which forms the line of separation of the streams of 
the Sara-sou and Irtisch, and which regularly fol- 
lows the same direction over an extent of 16 degrees 
of longitude. It consists of stratified granites not 
intermixed with gneiss, and of greenstone, porphyry, 
jasper, and transition -limestone, in which there 
occur various metallic substances. This low range 
does not reach the southern extremity of the Ural, 



TEEN-SHAN MOUNTAINS. 417 

a chain which,, like the Andes,, presents a long wall 
running north and south, with metallic mines on its 
eastern slope, but terminates abruptly in the meri- 
dian of Sverinogovloskoi. 

Here commences a remarkable region of lakes, 
comprising the group of Balek-koul (lat. 51° 30'), 
and that of Koumkoul (lat. 49° 45'), indicating 
an ancient communication of a mass of water with 
the Lake Ak-sakal, which receives the Tourgai and 
the Kamichloi Irghiz, as well as with the Lake Aral ; 
and which would seem from Chinese accounts to 
have formed part of a great plain extending to the 
borders of the Frozen Sea. 

2. System of Teen-shan. — The mean latitude 
of this system is the 42d degree. Its highest sum- 
mit is perhaps the mass of mountains covered with 
perpetual snow, and celebrated under the name of 
Bokhda-ovla, from which Pallas gave the designation 
of Bogdo to the whole chain. From Bokhda-ovla 
and Khatoun-bokhda, the Teen-shan mountains run 
eastward towards Bar-koul, where they are sudden- 
ly lowered so as to fall to the level of the elevated 
desert, called the Great Gobi or Cha-mo, which ex- 
tends from Koua-tcheou, a Chinese town, to the 
sources of the Argoun. If we now return to Bokh- 
da-ovla, we find the western prolongation of these 
mountains stretching to Goudja and Koutche, then 
between Lake Temoustou and Aksou to the north 
of Cash gar, and running towards Samarcand. The 
country comprehended between the Altaic chain and 
the Teen-shan mountains is shut up to the east, 
beyond the meridian of Pekin, by the Khingkhan- 
ovla, a lofty ridge, which runs from south-west 
to north-east ; but to the west it is entirely open. 

2c 



418 TEEN-SHAN MOUNTAINS. 

The case is very different with the country limit- 
ed by the second and third systems,, the Teen-shan 
and Kwan-lun ranges; it being closed to the west by 
a transverse ridge, which runs north and south, un- 
der the name of Bolor or Belour-tagh. This chain 
separates Little Bucharia from Great Bucharia, the 
country of Cashgar, Badakshan, and Upper Dji- 
houn. Its southern part, which is connected with 
the Kwan-lun system, forms a part of the Tsung- 
ling of the Chinese. To the north it joins the chain 
which passes to the north-west of Cashgar. Be- 
tween Khokand, Dervagel, and Hissar, conse- 
quently between the still unknown sources of the 
Sihon and Amou-deria, the Teen-shan rises be- 
fore lowering again in the Kanat of Bochara, and 
presents a group of high mountains, several of which 
are covered with snow r even in summer. More to 
the east it is less elevated. The road from Semi- 
polatinsk to Cashgar passes to the east of Lake 
Balkachi and to the w r est of Lake Ossi-koul, and 
crosses the Narim, a tributary of the Sihon. At 
the distance of 69| miles from the Narim to the 
south, it passes over the Rovat, which has a large 
cave, and is the highest point before arriving at the 
Chinese post to the south of the Ak-sou, the village 
of Artuche, and Cashgar. This city, which is built 
on the banks of the Ara-tumen, has 15,000 houses 
and 80,000 inhabitants, although it is smaller than 
Samarcand. 

The western prolongation of the Teen-shan or 
the Mouz-tagh, is deserving of particular exami- 
nation. At the point where the Bolor or Be- 
lour-tagh joins the Mouz-tagh at right angles, the 
latter continues to run without interruption from 



KWAX-LUN SYSTEM. 419 

east to west, under the name of Asferah-tagh, to the 
south of the Sihon, towards Kodjend and Ourat- 
eppeh in Ferganah. This chain of Asferah, which 
is covered with perpetual snow, separates the sources 
of the Sihon (Jaxartes) from those of the Amou 
(Oxus). It turns to the south-west nearly in the 
meridian of Kodjend, and in this direction is named, 
till it approaches Samarcand, Aktagh, or ALBotous. 
More to the west, on the fertile banks of the Kohik, 
commences the vast depression of ground comprising 
Great Bucharia and the country of Mavar-ul-Nahar; 
but beyond the Caspian Sea, nearly in the same 
latitude and in the same direction as the Teen- 
shan range, is seen the Caucasus with its porphyries 
and trachytes. It may, therefore, be considered as 
a continuation of the fissure upon which the Teen- 
shan is raised in the east, just as, to the west of the 
great mass of mountains of Adzarbaidjan and Ar- 
menia, Mount Taurus is a continuation of the ac- 
tion of the fissure of the Himmaleh and Hindoo- 
Coosh mountains. 

3. Kwan-hm System. — The Kwan-lun or Koul- 
koun chain is between Khoten, the mountains of 
Khoukhou-noor and Eastern Thibet, and the 
country named Katchi. It commences to the west 
at the Tsung-ling mountains. It is connected with 
the transverse chain of Bolor, as observed above, 
and, according to the Chinese books, forms its south- 
ern part. This corner of the globe, between Little 
Thibet and the Boda Kohan, is very little known, 
although it is rich in rubies, lapis lazuli, and mine- 
ral turquois ; and, according to recent accounts, the 
plain of Khorassan, which runs in the direction of 
Herat, and limits the Hindoo-kho to the north, 



420 



HIMMALEH MOUNTAINS. 



appears to be rather a continuation of the Tsung- 
ling and of the whole system of Kwan-lun to the 
west, than a prolongation of the Himmalehs, as is 
ommonly supposed. From the Tsung-ling the 
'Kwan-lun, or Koulkoun range, runs from west to 
east towards the sources of the Hoang-ho or Yellow 
River, and penetrates with its snowy summits into 
Chen-si, a province of China. Nearly in the meri- 
dian of these springs rises the great mass of moun- 
tains on the Lake Khoukhou-noor, resting to the 
north upon the snowy chain of the Nanshan or 
Ki-leen-shan, which also runs from west to east. 
Between Nanshan and Teen-shan, the heights of 
Tangout limit the margin of the upper desert of 
Gobi or Cha-mo, which is prolonged from south- 
west to north-east. The latitude of the central part 
of the Kwan-lun range is 35° 30'. 

4. Himmaleh System, — This system separates 
the valleys 3f Cashmere and Nepaul from Bootan 
and Thibet. To the west it rises in the mountain 
Javaher to an elevation of 25,746 feet, and to the 
east in Dhwalagiri to 28,074 feet above the level 
of the sea. Its general direction is from north-west 
to south-east, and thus it is not at all parallel to the 
Kwan-lun range, to which it approaches so near in 
the meridian of Attok and Jellalabad that they 
seem to form the same mass of mountains. Follow- 
ing the Himmaleh range eastward, we find it bor- 
dering Assam on the north, containing the sources of 
the Brahmapoutra, passing through the northern 
part of Ava, and penetrating into Yun-nan, a pro- 
vince of China, to the west of Young-tchang. It 
there exhibits pointed and snow-clad summits. It 
bends abruptly to the north-east, on the confines of 



VOLCANIC ELEVATION OF CHAINS. 421 

Hou-kouang, Kiang-si, and Foukian, and advances 
its snowy peaks towards the ocean ; the island of 
Formosa, the mountains of which are in like man- 
ner covered during the greater part of summer, 
being its termination. Thus we may follow ti^ 
Himmaleh system as a continuous chain from the 
Eastern Ocean, through Hindoo-kho, across Candahar 
and Khorassan, to beyond the Caspian Sea in Adzar- 
baidjan, along an extent of 73 degrees, or half the 
length of the Andes. The western extremity, which 
is volcanic (like the eastern part), loses its character 
of a chain in the mountains of Armenia, which are 
connected with Sangalou, Bingheul, and Kachmir- 
daugh, in the pashalic of Erzeroum. The mean di- 
rection of the system is north 55° west. 

These mountain- chains, with their various rami- 
fications and intervening platforms and valleys, af- 
ford evidence to our author of revolutions anciently 
undergone by the crust of the globe • these having 
been elevated by matter thrust up in the line of enor- 
mous cracks and fissures. The great depression of 
Central Asia, spoken of above, he considers as having 
been caused by the same action. Analogous to the 
Caspian Sea and other cavities in this district, are 
the lakes formed in Europe at the foot of the Alps, 
and which also owe their origin to a sinking of the 
ground. It is chiefly in the extent of this depres- 
sion of Central Asia, and consequently in the space 
where the resistance was least, that we find traces of 
volcanic action. Several volcanoes are described in 
this space by ancient Chinese writers, who also men- 
tion a variety of volcanic products, such as sal ammo- 
niac and sulphur, which form articles of commerce. 

" We thus know," says our author, " in the in- 



422 VOLCANIC REGION OF 

terior of Asia,, a volcanic territory, the surface of 
which is upwards of 2500 square geographical miles, 
and which is from 1000 to 1400 miles distant from 
the sea. It fills the half of the longitudinal valley 
situated between the first and second system of 
mountains. The principal seat of volcanic action 
appears to be in the Teen-shan. Perhaps the co- 
lossal Bokhda-ovla is a trachytic formation like 
Chimborazo." On both sides of the Teen-shan 
violent earthquakes occur. The city of Aksou was 
entirely destroyed at the commencement of the 
eighteenth century by a commotion of this nature. 
In Eastern Siberia the centre of the circle of shocks 
appears to be at Irkutzk, and in the deep basin of 
the Baikal Lake, in the vicinity of which volcanic 
products are observed. But this point of the Al- 
taic range is the extreme limit of these phenomena, 
no earthquakes having been experienced farther to 
the west, in the plains of Siberia, between the Al- 
taic and Uralian ranges, or in any part of the latter. 

The volcanic territory of Bichbalik is to the east 
of the great depression of Asia. To the south and 
west of this internal basin we find two cones in ac- 
tivity, — Demavend, which is visible from Teheran, 
and Seiban of Ararat, which is covered with vitreous 
Javas. On both sides of the isthmus between the 
Caspian and the Black Sea springs of naphtha and 
mud-eruptions are numerous. 

On the western margin of the great depression, 
if we proceed from the Caucasian isthmus to the 
north and north-west, we arrive at the territory of 
the great horizontal and tertiary deposites of South- 
ern Russia and Poland. Here we find igneous 
rocks piercing the red sandstone of Jekaterinoslav, 



CENTRAL ASIA. 423 

together with asphaltum and springs impregnated 
with sulphurous gases. 

A phenomenon so great as that of the central de- 
pression of Asia, which resembles the circular val- 
leys of the moon, could have been produced only by 
a very powerful cause acting in the interior of the 
earth. This cause, while forming the crust of the 
globe by sudden raisings and sinkings, probably 
filled with metallic substances the fissures of the 
Uralian and Altaic chains. 

It is not the custom of our author to detail per- 
sonal adventures, his object being to give a scienti- 
fic character to his narrative ; and for this reason his 
relations may be less interesting to many readers 
than some of the travels and voyages which have of 
late been so profusely offered to the public. He is 
at present engaged in preparing an account of his 
Asiatic tour, the full details of which will ap- 
pear under the general title of ei A Journey to the 
Uralian Range, the Mountains of Kolyvan, the 
Frontier of Chinese Zungaria, and the Caspian Sea, 
made by Order of the Emperor of Russia, in 1829, 
by A. de Humboldt, G. Ehrenberg, and G. Rose/' 
It will consist of three distinct works : — 1. A geolo- 
gical and physical view of the north-west of Asia, 
observations of terrestrial magnetism, and results of 
astronomical geography, by Baron Humboldt. 2. 
The mineralogical and geological details, the results 
of chemical analysis, and the narrative of the jour- 
ney, by M. Rose. 3. The botanical and zoological 
part, with observations on the distribution of plants 
and animals, by M. Ehrenberg. 

Any formal eulogy on our illustrious author must 
be altogether unnecessary, for his renown has extend- 



/ 



424 



CONCLUSION. 



7 £S&1-\ 



<j* 



ed over all parts of the civilized worlds and,, at the 
present day, there is not a man of science in Europe 
whose name is more familiar. Long after his ca- 
reer shall have terminated, he will be remembered 
as one of the chief ornaments of an age peculiarly 
remarkable in the history of the world. As there 
is a natural desire in most people to become ac- 
quainted with the physical tenement of a mind 
whose productions have excited interest, or, afforded 
useful knowledge, the publishers have endeavoured 
to gratify it in some measure, by prefixing a por- 
trait of this distinguished philosopher in his younger 
days. It were easy to point out in this delineation 
the most decided marks of that capacious intellect 
and gentleness of disposition, — that combination of 
power and benignity, — by which he is character- 
ized ; but the physiognomist needs no assistance in a 
matter of this kind, for when the character is known, 
it is easy to read it in the features. 



THE END. 



Printed by Oliver & Boyd, 
Tweeddale Court, High Street, Edinburgh. 



